STORIES OF THE EAST 
FROM HERODOTUS. 




DA RI US 



HANHAPT. L/7'f 



STORIES OF THE EAST 
FROM HERODOTUS 



REV. ALFRED J^CHURCH, MA. 

Professor of Latin at University College, London; 

AUTHOR OF "STORIES FROM HOMER." 



WITH ILLUSTRATIONS 
FROM ANCIENT FRESCOES AND SCULPTURES 



NEW YORK : 
SCR'IBNER AND WELFORD 

MDCCCLXXXI. 
All Rights reserved. 



mi 



48 65 55 

JUL l 6 1942 



UNWIM BROTHERS, THE GRESHAM PRESS, CHILWORTH AND LONDON. 



- . 



u 



t 

p 





TO 

WILLIAM AND MARIA OVEREND, 

KINDEST OF FRIENDS, 
THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAP. 
I. 

II. 



III. 



IV. 



V. 

VI. 

VII. 
VIII. 



THE STORY OF KING CRCESUS 

CRCESUS, WISHING TO MAKE WAR AGAINST 

THE PERSIANS, CONSULTETH THE 

ORACLES 

KING CRCESUS IS DEFEATED AND THE CITY 

OF SARDIS IS TAKEN 

CRCESUS IS SAVED FROM DEATH. OF LYDIA, 

THE LYDIANS, AND OF CERTAIN GREEKS 

THAT DWELT IN ASIA 

THE BIRTH AND BRINGING UP OF 

CYRUS 

CYRUS OVERTHROWETH ASTYAGES, AND 

TAKETH THE KINGDOM TO HIMSELF 

THE CITY OF BABYLON. CYRUS TAKETH IT 

CYRUS MAKETH WAR AGAINST THE MASSA- 

GET.E, AND DIETH 



PAGE 
I 



20 



33 



47 
66 

81 
93 

104 



vi CONTENTS. 



CHAP. PAGE 

IX. OF THE MANNERS OF THE EGYPTIANS... Il6 

X. OF CERTAIN KINGS OF EGYPT 1 36 

XI. OF CERTAIN OTHER KINGS OF EGYPT ... 151 

XII. THE PERSIANS CONQUER EGYPT 1 75 

XIII. CAMBYSES MAKETH WAR UPON THE NATIONS 
ROUND ABOUT, IS STRICKEN WITH 

MADNESS, AND SO DIETH 1 92 

XIV. THE FALSE SMERDIS IS SLAIN 2l8 

XV. THE KINGDOM OF DARIUS 236 

XVI. BABYLON REBELLETH AGAINST THE KING, 

AND IS TAKEN 246 

XVII. KING DARIUS MAKETH WAR UPON THE 

SCYTHIANS 256 

XVIII. OF THE SCYTHIANS AND OTHER NATIONS 276 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



DARIUS Frontispiece. 

SCULPTURES FROM PTERIUM 38 

CRCESUS ON THE FUNERAL PILE 48 

BABYLONIAN CAPTIVES 102 

INSPECTION OF CATTLE Il8 

PURSUING BIRDS 126 

A FLOCK OF GEESE I3 2 

OSIRIS J 34 

A VICTORY 136 

AN EGYPTIAN FEAST 154 

SENNACHERIB IN HIS CHARIOT I5 S 

ASIATICS BRINGING TRIBUTE 162 

BRINGING CORN AND ANIMALS AS TRIBUTE ... 1 72 

A PERSIAN KING 194 

A LION HUNT 24.O 

BESIEGING A CITY 248 



PREFACE. 



In these stones I have kept as close to my 
original as I could, but I do not profess to have 
translated it. Of course, nothing like criticism 
or correction has been attempted. 

I should be sorry that readers who are not 
acquainted with the work of the " Father of 
History " should carry away from this book the 
impression that he is nothing more than a 
credulous and gossiping teller of stories. That 
he was often deceived, and that he writes with 
a simplicity which is quite remote from our 
ways of thinking, is manifest ; but those who 
know him best are aware that he was never- 
theless a shrewd and painstaking observer, 



1 



xii PREFACE. 

whose credit has been distinctly increased by 
the discoveries of modern times. 

I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my 
relative, Miss E. L. Seeley, for the pains which 
she has bestowed on the illustrations to this 
volume. 



Hadley Green, 

September 30, 1880. 



STORIES OF THE EAST 
FROM HERODOTUS. 

CHAPTER I. 

THE STORY OF KING CRCESUS. 

Crcesus, the son of Alyattes, began to reign 
over Lydia, being thirty and five years old. 
This Croesus made war upon all the Greeks 
that dwelt in the western parts of Asia, seeking 
some occasion of quarrel with every city. And 
if he could find some great matter, he used it 
gladly ; but if not, a little thing would serve his 
turn. Now, the first of all the cities which he 
fought against was Ephesus ; and when the 
Ephesians were besieged by him they offered 
their city as an offering to the goddess Artemis, 
fastening a rope to the wall from her temple. 
(The space between the temple and the wall 



n 



STORIES OF THE EAST. 



was seven furlongs.) All the cities of the 
Greeks that are on the mainland did Crcesus 
subdue, so that they paid tribute to him. And 
when he had ended this business, he purposed 
in his heart to build ships, and to make war on 
the Greeks that dwelt in the islands. But 
when all things were now ready for the build- 
ing of the ships, there came to Sardis a certain 
Greek, a man renowned for wisdom. Some 
say that this Greek was Bias, the wise man 
of Priene, and some that he was Pittacus of 
Mitylene. This Greek caused Crcesus to cease 
from his shipbuilding, for when the King would 
know whether he had any news from Greece, 
he said to him, " O King, the islanders are 
buying ten thousand horses, that they may set 
riders upon them, and so march against thee 
and thy city of Sardis." When Crcesus heard 
this he was glad, hoping that the man spake 
truth, and said, " Now may the Gods put this 
into the hearts of the islanders, that they 
should make war with horses against the sons 
of the Lydians." Then the Greek answered 
and said, " O King, I see that thou prayest 
with all thy heart that thou mayest find the 



THE STORY OF KING CRCESUS. 



islanders coming- against thee here on the main- 
land with horses, and verily thou doest well. 
What then dost thou think that the islanders 
pray for now that they know thee to be build- 
ing ships ? Surely that they may find the 
Lydians coming against them on the sea, that 
so they may take vengeance on thee for their 
brethren on the mainland, whom thou hast 
brought into slavery." This saying pleased 
King Crcesus mightily ; and because the Greek 
seemed to him to speak truly, he ceased 
straightway from his shipbuilding, and made 
alliance with the Greeks that dwelt in the 
islands. 

Now after certain years, when all Asia that 
lieth to the westward of the river Halys had 
been subdued by Crcesus (only Lydia and Cilicia 
were not subdued), and his kingdom flourished 
with great wealth and honour, there came to 
Sarclis all the wise men of the Greeks, as many 
as there were in those days. But the greatest 
of all that came was Solon of Athens. This 
Solon had made laws for the Athenians, for 
they would have him make them, and after- 
wards he dwelt abroad for ten years. And he 



STORIES OF THE EAST. 



said that he did this that he might see foreign 
countries ; but in truth he departed that he 
might not be compelled to change any of the 
laws that he had made. For the Athenians 
themselves could not change any, having bound 
themselves with great oaths to Solon, that they 
would live for the space of ten years under the 
laws which he had made for them. 

Solon therefore came to Sardis, and Croesus 
entertained him in his palace. And on the 
third or fourth day after his coming the King 
commanded his servants that they should show 
Solon all the royal treasures. So the servants 
showed him all the things that the King 
possessed, a very great store of riches. And 
when he had seen everything and considered 
it, and a fitting time was come, the King said 
to him, " Man of Athens, I have heard much 
of thee in time past, of thy wisdom and of thy 
journeyings to and fro, for they say that thou 
wanderest over many lands, seeking for know- 
ledge. I have therefore a desire to ask of 
thee one question : ' Whom thinkest thou to be 
the happiest of all the men that thou hast 
seen ? ' " And this he said hoping that Solon 



THE STORY OF KING CRCESUS. 



would answer, " Thou, O King, art the happi- 
est man that I have seen." But Solon flattered 
him not a whit, but spake the truth, saying, " O 
King, the happiest man that I have seen was 
Tellus the Athenian." Then Croesus, mar- 
velling much at these words, said, " And why 
thinkest thou that Tellus the Athenian was the 
happiest of men ? " Then Solon answered, 
" Tellus saw his country in great prosperity, 
and he had children born to him that were fair 
and noble, and to each of these also he saw 
children born, of whom there died not one. 
Thus did all things prosper with him in life, as 
we count prosperity, and the end of his days also 
was great and glorious ; for when the Athe- 
nians fought with certain neighbours of theirs in 
Eleusis, he came to the help of his countrymen 
against their enemies, and put these to flight, 
and so died with great honour ; and the whole 
people of the Athenians buried him in the 
same place wherein he fell, and honoured him 
greatly." 

But when Solon had ended speaking to the 
King of Tellus, how happy he was, the King 
asked him acrain, " Whom, then, hast thou seen 



STORIES OF THE EAST. 



that was next in happiness to this Tellus? " For 
he thought to himself, " Surely now he will give 
me the second place." Then Solon said, 'T judge 
Cleobis and Biton to have been second in 
happiness to Tellus." 

Cleobis and Biton were youths of the city of 
Argos. They had a livelihood such as sufficed 
them ; and their strength was greater than that 
of other men. For not only did they win prizes 
of strength, but also they did this thing that 
shall now be told. The men of Argos held a 
feast to Here, who hath a great and famous 
temple in their city ; and it must needs be that 
the mother of the two young men, being 
priestess of Here, should be drawn in a 
waggon from the city to the temple ; but the 
oxen that should have drawn the waggon were 
not yet come from the fields. Then, as the time 
pressed and the matter was urgent, the young 
men harnessed themselves to the waggon and 
dragged it, and their mother the priestess sat 
upon it. And the space for which they dragged 
it was forty and five furlongs ; and so they came 
to the temple. And when they had done this 
in the eyes of all the assembly, there befell 



THE STORY OF KING CRCESUS. 



them such a death that nothing could be more 
to be desired ; the Gods, indeed, making it 
manifest that it is far better for a man to die 
than to live. For indeed the thing fell out thus. 
When all the people of Argos came about the 
woman and her sons, and the men praised the 
youths for their great strength, and the women 
praised the mother that she had borne such 
noble sons, the mother in the joy of her heart 
stood before the image and prayed that the 
goddess would give to her sons, even Cleobis 
and Biton, that which the Gods judge it best 
for a man to have. And when the priestess 
had so prayed, and the young men had offered 
sacrifice, and made merry with their companions, 
they lay down to sleep in the temple, and woke 
not again, but so ended their days. And the 
men of Argos commanded the artificers that 
they should make statues of the young men, 
and these they offered to the god at Delphi. 

But when Solon thus gave the second place 
of happiness to these young men, King Crcesus 
was very wroth, and said, " Man of Athens, 
thou countest my happiness as nothing worth, 
not deeming me fit to be compared even with 



STORIES OF THE EAST. 



common men." Then Solon made answer, " O 
Croesus, thou askest me about mortal life to say 
whether it be happy or no, but I know that the 
Gods are jealous and apt to bring trouble upon 
men. I know also that if a man's years be 
prolonged he shall see many things that he 
would fain not see, aye, and suffer many things 
also. Now I reckon that the years of a man's 
life are threescore and ten, and that in these 
years there are twenty and five thousand days 
and two hundred. For this is the number, if a 
man reckon not the intercalated month. But if 
he reckon this, seeing that in threescore and 
ten years are thirty and five such months, and 
the days of these months are one thousand 
and fifty, then the whole sum of the days 
of a man's life is twenty and six thousand two 
hundred and fifty. Now of these days, being 
so many, not one bringeth to a man things like 
to those which another hath brought. Where- 
fore, O King, the whole life of man is full of 
chance. I see indeed that thou hast exceeding 
great wealth and art king of many men. But 
as to that which thou askest of me, I call thee 
not happy, till I shall know that thou hast 



THE STORY OF KING CRCESUS. 



ended thy days prosperously. For the man 
that hath exceeding great riches is in no wise 
happier than he that hath sufficient only for the 
day, unless good fortune also remain with him, 
and Pfive him all things that are to be desired, 

o o 

even unto the end of his days. For many men 
that are wealthy beyond measure are never- 
theless unhappy, and many that have neither 
poverty nor riches have yet great happiness, and 
he that is exceeding rich and unhappy withal, 
excelleth him that hath moderate possessions 
with happiness in two things only, but the other 
excelleth in many things. For the first hath 
the more strength to satisfy the desires of his 
soul, and also to bear up against any mis- 
fortune that cometh upon him ; but the second 
hath not this strength ; and indeed he needeth 
it not, for his good fortune keepeth such things 
far from him. Also he is whole in body, and 
of good health, neither doth misfortune trouble 
him, and he hath good children, and is fair to 
look upon. And if, over and above these 
things, he also end his life well, then I judge 
him to be the happy man whom thou seekest. 
But till he die, so long do I hold my judgment, 



io STORIES OF THE EAST. 



and call him not happy indeed, but fortunate. 
It is impossible also that any man should com- 
prehend in his life all things that be good. 
For even as a country sufficeth not for itself 
nor produceth all things, but hath certain things 
of its own and receiveth certain from others, 
and as that country which produceth the most 
is counted the best, even so is it with men, for 
no man's body sufficeth for all things, but hath 
one thing and lacketh another. Whosoever, O 
King, keepeth ever the greatest store of things, 
and so endeth his life in a seemly fashion, 
this man deserveth in my judgment to be called 
happy. But we must needs regard the end of 
all things, how they shall turn out ; for the Gods 
give to many men some earnest of happiness, 
but yet in the end overthrow them utterly." 

These were the words of Solon. But they 
pleased not King Croesus by any means. There- 
fore the King made no account of him, and dis- 
missed him as being a foolish and ignorant 
person, seeing that he took no heed of the 
blessings that men have in their hands, bid- 
ding them always have regard unto their end. 

Now it came to pass after Solon had departed 



THE STORY OF KING CRCESUS. u 

from Sardis that there came great wrath from 
the Gods upon King Crcesus, and this, doubt- 
less, because he judged himself to be the 
happiest of all men. And it happened in this 
wise. He saw a vision in his sleep, that told 
him of the trouble that should come upon him 
with respect to his son. For the King had 
two sons ; but the one was afflicted of the 
Gods, being dumb from his birth, but the other 
far surpassed his equals of age in all things. 
And the name of this son was Atys. Now the 
vision that he saw in his sleep showed him that 
Atys should be smitten with a spear-point of 
iron, and so die. Therefore when he woke 
from his sleep and considered the matter, being 
much terrified by the dream, he sought how he 
might best keep his son from this peril. First, 
then, he married him to a wife ; and next, he 
suffered him not to go forth any more to battle, 
though he had been wont aforetime to be the 
captain of the host ; and, besides all this, he 
took away all javelins and spears, and such 
like things that men are wont to use in battle, 
from the chambers of the men, and stored them 
elsewhere, lest perchance one of them should 



12 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

fall from its place where it hung upon the wall 
and give the youth a hurt. 

Now it chanced that while the matter of the 
young man's marriage was in hand, there came 
to Sardis a certain stranger, upon whom there 
had come the great trouble of blood-ofuiltiness. 
The man was a Phrygian by birth, and of the 
royal house : and he came into the palace of 
Croesus, after the custom of that country, and 
sought for one that should cleanse him from 
his guilt ; and Crcesus cleansed him. (Now 
the manner of cleansing is the same, for the 
most part, among the Lydians as it is among 
the Greeks.) And when the King had done 
for him according to all that was prescribed in 
the law, he would fain know who he was, and 
whence he had come. Wherefore, he asked 
him, saying, " My friend, who art thou ? and 
from what city of Phrygia — for that thou art a 
Phrygian I know — art thou come, taking sanc- 
tuary at my hearth ? And what man or woman 
didst thou slay ? " And the man answered, 
" O King, I am the son of Gordias, the son of 
Midas, and my name is Adrastus, and I slew 
my own brother, not wittingly. For this cause 



THE STORY OF KING CRCESUS. 



am I come to thee, for my father drave me out 

from my home, and I am utterly bereft of 

all things." To this King Croesus made reply, 

" Thou art the son of friends, and to a friend 

art thou come. Verily as long as thou abidest 

here thou shalt lack for nothing that I can give 

thee. And as for thy trouble, it will be best 

for thee to bear it as easily as may be." So 

the man lived thenceforth in the King's palace. 

Now about this time there was a mighty 

wild boar in Olympus, that is a mountain of 

Mysia. It had its den in the mountain, and 

eoine ou t thence did much damage to the 

possessions of the Mysians ; and the Mysians 

had often sought to slay him, but harmed him 

not at all, but rather received harm themselves. 

At the last they sent messengers to the King ; 

who stood before him, and said, " O King, 

a mighty monster of a wild boar hath his 

abode in our country and destroyeth our 

possessions, and though we would fain kill 

him we cannot. Now therefore we pray thee 

that thou wilt send thy son, and chosen youths 

with him, and dogs for hunting, that they may 

go with us, and that we may drive this great 



14 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

beast out of our land." But when they made 
this request Croesus remembered the dream 
which he had dreamed, and said, " As to my 
son, talk no more about him, for I will by no 
means let him go, seeing that the youth is 
newly married to a wife, and careth now for 
other things. But chosen youths of the Lydians 
shall go with you, and all the hunting dogs 
that I have ; and I will bid them do their 
utmost to help you, that ye may drive this 
wild beast out of your land." This was the 
King's answer ; and the Mysians were fain, to 
be content with it. But in the meanwhile the 
youth came in, for he had heard what the 
Mysians demanded of his father ; and he spake 
to the King, saying, " O my father, I was wont 
aforetime to win for myself great credit and 
honour going forth to battle and to hunting. 
But now thou forbiddest me both the one and 
the other, not having seen any cowardice in 
me or lack of spirit. Tell me, my father, what 
countenance can I show to my fellows when I 
go to the market, or when I come from thence ? 
What manner of man do I seem to be to my 
countrymen ? and what manner of man to 



THE STORY OF KING CRCESUS. 15 

the wife that I have newly married ? What 
thinketh she of her husband ? Let me there- 
fore go to this hunting, or, if not, prove to 
me that it is better for me to live as I am 
living this day." To this Croesus made an- 
swer, " My son, I have seen no cowardice or 
baseness or any such thing in thee ; but there 
appeared to me a vision in my sleep, and it 
stood over me and said that thy days should 
be few, for that thou shouldest die being smitten 
by a spear-point of iron. For this reason I made 
this marriage for thee, and send thee not forth 
on such occasions as I was wont to send thee on, 
keeping thee under guard, if so be that I may 
shield thee from thy fate at the least so long 
as I shall live. For thou art now my only son, 
for of him whom the Gods have afflicted, making 
him dumb, I take no count." To this the 
young man made answer, " Thou hast good 
reason, my father, to keep guard over me, see- 
ing that thou hast had such a dream concerning 
me ; yet I will tell thee a thing that thou hast 
not understood nor comprehended in the dream. 
Thou sayest that the vision told thee that I 
should perish by a spear-point of iron. Con- 



1 6 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

sider now, therefore, what hands hath a wild 
boar and what spear-point of iron, that thou 
shouldest fear for me ? For if indeed the 
vision had said that I should perish by a tooth, 
or by any other thing that is like to a tooth, 
then thou mightest well do what thou doest ; 
but seeing that it spake of a spear-point, not so. 
Now, therefore, that we have not to do battle 
with men, but with beasts, I pray thee that thou 
let me go." Then said King Croesus, "It is 
well said, my son ; as to the dream, thou hast 
persuaded me. Therefore I have changed my 
purpose, and suffer thee to go to this hunting." 
When he had said this, he sent for Adrastus the 
Phrygian ; and when the man was come into his 
presence, he spake, saying, " Adrastus, I took 
thee when thou wast afflicted with a grievous 
trouble, though indeed with this I upbraid thee 
not, and I cleansed thee from thy guilt, and re- 
ceived thee into my palace, and sustained thee 
without any cost of thine. Now, therefore, it 
is well that thou shouldest make me some 
return for all these benefits. I would make 
thee keeper of my son now that he goeth forth 
to this hunting, if it should chance that any 



THE STORY OF KING CRCESUS. 17 

robbers or such folk should be found on the 
way to do him hurt. Moreover, it becometh 
thee, for thine own sake, to go on an errand 
from which thou mayest win renown ; for thou 
art of a royal house and art besides valiant and 
strong." To this Adrastus made answer, " O 
King, I had not indeed gone to this sport but 
for thy words. For he to whom such trouble 
hath come as hath come to me should not com- 
pany with happy men ; nor indeed hath he the 
will to do it. But now, as thou art earnest in 
this matter, I must needs yield to thy request. 
Therefore I am ready to do as thou wilt ; be 
sure, therefore, that I will deliver thee thy son, 
whom thou biddest me keep, safe and unhurt, 
so far as his keeper may so do." So the young 
men departed, and chosen youths with them, and 
dogs for hunting. And when they were come 
to the mountain of Olympus they searched for 
the wild boar, and when they had found it, they 
stood in a circle about it, and threw their 
spears at it. And so it fell out that this 
stranger, the same that had been cleansed from 
the guilt of manslaying, whose name was Adras- 
tus, throwing his spear at the wild boar and 

3 



STORIES OF THE EAST. 



missing his aim, smote the son of Croesus. 
And the youth died of the wound, so that the 
vision of the King was fulfilled, that he should 
die by a spear-point. And straightway there 
ran one to tell the thing to Crcesus. And when 
he had come to Sardis, he told the King how 
they had fought with the wild boar, and how 
his son had died. 

Crcesus was very grievously troubled by the 
death of his son ; and this the more because he 
had been slain by the man whom he had him- 
self cleansed from the guilt of blood. And in 
his great grief he cried out very vehemently 
against the Gods, and specially against Zeus, the 
god of cleansing, seeing that he had cleansed 
this stranger, and now suffered grievous wrong 
at his hands. He reproached him also as the 
god of hospitality and of friendship — of hos- 
pitality, because he had entertained this man, 
and knew not that he was entertaining the 
slayer of his own son ; and of friendship, 
because he had sent him to be a keeper and 
friend to his son, yet had found him to be an 
enemy and destroyer. And when he had 
done speaking there came Lydians bearing the 
dead body of the young man, and the slayer 



THE STORY OF KING CRCESUS. 19 

followed behind. So soon, therefore, as the man 
was come into the presence of the King, he 
gave himself up, stretching forth his hands, and 
bidding the King slay him on the dead body. 
And he spake of the dreadful deed that he had 
done before, and that now he had added to it a 
worse thinof, brinmnsf destruction on him that had 
cleansed him ; and he cried out that he was not 
fit to live. But when Crcesus heard him speak, 
he pitied him, for all that he was in grievous 
trouble of his own, and spake to him, " I have 
had from thee, O my friend, all the vengeance 
that I need, seeing that thou hast pronounced 
sentence of death against thyself. But indeed 
thou art not the cause of this trouble, save only 
that thou hast brought it to pass unwittingly ; 
some god is the cause, the same that long since 
foretold to me this very thing that hath now 
befallen me." So Crcesus buried his son with all 
due rites. But Adrastus the son of Gordias 
the son of Midas, that had been the slayer 
of his own brother, and had now slain the son 
of him that had cleansed him, waited behind 
till all men had left the sepulchre, and then slew 
himself upon it ; for he knew that of all the 
men in the world he was the most unhappy. 



2 o STORIES OF THE EAST. 



CHAPTER II. 

CRCESUS, WISHING TO MAKE WAR AGAINST THE 
PERSIANS, CONSULTETH THE ORACLES. 

For the space of two years did King Croesus 
sit sorrowing for his son. But in the third year 
his thoughts were turned to other matters. For 
he heard that the kingdom of Astyages the son 
of Cyaxares had been overthrown by Cyrus 
the son of Cambyses, and that the power of the 
Persians increased day by day. For which 
reason it seemed good j- h{ m t na t ne should 
prevent this people, if by any means he could, 
before they should become too mighty for him. 
And so soon as he had conceived this purpose 
in his heart, he made trial of all the oracles that 
are both in Europe and in Asia, sending mes- 
sengers to Delphi, and to Abae that belongeth 
to Phocis, and to Dodona. Also he sent to the 
oracles of Amphiaraus, and of Trophonius, and 
of Branchidce that is in Miletus. These are 



THE STORY OF KING CROESUS. 21 

the oracles in the land of Greece of which he 
sent to enquire, and in Libya he sent to the 
oracle of Hammon. First he sent to make 
trial of all these whether they should be found 
to know the truth about a certain thing, pur- 
posing that if they should be so found he would 
send to them yet again and enquire whether 
he should take it in hand to make war against 
the Persians. Now he had given command- 
ment to the messengers whom he sent to make 
trial of the oracles, that they should reckon the 
days diligently from the day whereon they set 
out from Sardis, and that on the hundredth 
day they should enquire of the oracles, saying, 
"What doth Croesus the son of Alyattes, king 
of Lydia, chance to be doing this day?" and that 
they should write down the words of the oracle 
and brine them back to him. Now what 
the other oracles answered no man knows ; 
but at Delphi, so soon as the Lydians were 
come into the temple to enquire of the god, 
the Pythia, for so they call the priestess that 
uttereth the mind of the god, spake, saying — 

" I know the number of the sand, 
I know the measures of the sea ; 



22 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

The dumb man's speech I understand, 
Though nought he say, 'tis clear to me. 

I smell a savour new and sweet ; 

Strange is the feast the Lydians keep ; 

Mingled in brazen caldron meet 

The tortoise flesh and flesh of sheep ; 

Around the burning embers glow, 

With brass above and brass below." 

These words the Lydians wrote down from the 
mouth of the Pythia, and so departed, and went 
their way to Sardis. The other messengers also 
came, bringing with them the oracles that had 
been delivered to them. Then the King opened 
each and read the writing ; and not one of them 
pleased him. But when he knew the answer 
that had been brought from Delphi, forthwith 
he prayed and received it with reverence, for he 
judged that there was no true oracle in the world 
save that of Delphi only, seeing that it had dis- 
covered the very thing that he was doing. For 
after that he had sent his messengers to the 
oracles, when the appointed day was come, he 
devised this device. He imagined something 
that could not, he thought, by any means be dis- 
covered ; for he chopped up together the flesh 
of a tortoise and the flesh of a lamb, and cooked 



THE STORY OF KING CRCESUS. 23 

them himself in a brazen caldron, upon which he 
had put a lid of brass. This was the answer 
that came to Crcesus from Delphi ; but as to the 
oracle of Amphiaraiis, the answer that it made 
to the messengers when they had duly enquired 
of it no man knows, yet did Crcesus think that 
this also was a true oracle. 

Here shall be told the story of Alcmseon of 
Athens, to whom Crcesus sent bidding him 
:ome to Sardis, for that he had helped the King's 
nessengers when they enquired of the god at 
Delphi, furthering their business with all dili- 
gence. And when Alcmseon was come, the 
ling said to him that he should be permitted 
t) go into his treasury, and take therefrom 
for himself all the gold that he could carry 
01 his body. Then Alcmseon prepared himself 
for this business. First he clothed himself with 
a tunic, in which he made a great fold for a 
p)cket ; and next he got him the widest and 
bggest boots that he could find, and so went 
irto the treasury. And lighting on a heap of 
dist of gold he filled his boots with it as much 
a< they would contain, even up to his knees ; 
aid also the fold of his tunic he filled with gold ; 



24 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

also into his hair he put so much of the dust as 
it would contain. Other gold he took into his 
mouth, and so made his way out of the treasury, 
but scarcely could he drag his boots after him ; 
and indeed he seemed like to anything rather 
than to a man, for his mouth was filled out and 
swollen beyond all a man's semblance. And 
when Crcesus saw him he laughed, and gave 
him all that gold and as much more. This was 
the beginning of the wealth of the house of 
Alcmseon. 

After this King Crcesus sought to propitiate 
the god that was in Delphi with many and 
great sacrifices. For first he sacrificed threi 
thousand beasts of all such as it is lawful D 
offer to the Gods, and next he builded up i 
great pile of couches that were covered witi 
gold and silver, and of cups of gold, and of 
purple garments and tunics, and set fire t> 
the pile, for he thought that by so doing l|e 
should make the god a friend to him. Arid 
he gave commandment to the Lydians th[t 
they should sacrifice in like manner every oije 
of them such things as they had. And whn 
this sacrifice was ended, he melted a great stofe 



THE STORY OF KING CRCESUS. 25 

of gold, and made bricks of it. Of these the 
bigger sort were six hand-breadths in length, 
and the smaller three hand-breadths, and all of 
them a hand-breadth in height. There were 
one hundred and sixteen of these bricks in all, 
four of them being of pure gold, and weighing 
each one talent and half a talent, and the rest 
of gold that was mixed with alloy ; these 
weighed two talents to the brick. Also he 
made the image of a lion of pure gold, ten 
talents in weight. This lion, when the temple 
of Delphi was burnt, fell down from the bricks 
(for it had been set up on them) ; and now it 
lieth in the treasury of the Corinthians, and 
weigheth seven talents and half a talent. 

When Croesus had finished casting these 
bricks, he sent them to Delphi and other things 
with them ; to wit, two very great mixing 
bowls, of orold the one, and of silver the other. 
The bowl of gold lieth now in the treasury of 
the Corinthians, being in weight four talents 
and half a talent and twelve ounces. And the 
silver bowl lieth in the corner of the ante- 
chamber. It holdeth six hundred firkins ; and 
the Delphians mix wine in it at the feast of the 



26 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

Showing of the Images. Also he sent four 
silver casks, that stand now in the treasury of 
the Corinthians, and two vessels for sprinkling 
water, of gold the one and of silver the other. 
On the gold bowl are written these words : 
" This the Lacedaemonians offered to the god." 
But these words are not true, for a certain man 
of Delphi (whose name, though it be known, 
shall not be mentioned in this place) engraved 
them, thinking to please the Lacedaemonians. 
Yet the boy, through whose hand the water 
flows, is an offering of the Lacedaemonians, but 
of the vessels themselves neither the one nor 
the other. Other offerings of no great account 
did Croesus send to Delphi. Yet of one must 
mention be made ; to wit, the golden statue of 
a woman three cubits in height. This the men 
of Delphi affirm to be the likeness of the bread- 
cutter of King Croesus. Also the King offered 
to the god the necklace of his wife and her 
girdles also. He sent gifts likewise to the 
temple of Amphiaraus. 

Now Croesus gave commandment to the 
Lydians that carried these offerings for him to 
Delphi and to the temple of Amphiaraus, that 



THE STORY OF KING CRCESUS. 27 

they should enquire of the oracles whether or no 
he should make war against the Persians, and 
whether he should seek to gain for himself any 
allies that should help him. So when the 
Lydians that had been sent on this errand 
were come, they enquired of the oracles, say- 
ing, " Croesus, king of the Lydians, and of 
other nations, holding these to be the only 
truth -speaking oracles that are among men, 
sendeth to you gifts that are worthy of your 
wisdom, and would now enquire of you whether 
he shall make war against the Persians, and also 
in what nations he shall seek for allies for him- 
self." These are the things that the messengers 
of Crcesus enquired of the oracles, and the two 
agreed together in their answers ; for first they 
said, "If Crcesus make war against the Per- 
sians, he shall bring to the ground a great 
empire," and next they counselled him to find 
out who of the Greeks were the most powerful 
at that season, and to make them his allies. 
This answer rejoiced the King exceedingly, for 
he made sure that he should bring the empire 
of Cyrus and the Persians to the ground. 
Wherefore he sent again to Delphi, and gave 



28 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

to every man two gold pieces, having first 
enquired how many men there were in the city ; 
for which bounty the people of Delphi gave in 
return to him and all other Lydians that they 
should have first approach to the oracle, and 
should be free of tribute, and should have the 
chief seat at feasts and games. Also that any 
man of Lydia might, if he so willed, be free of 
the city of Delphi. 

After he had bestowed this bounty on the 
men of Delphi, Crcesus enquired of the oracle 
the third time ; for now that he had assured 
himself that it spake the truth, he was instant 
in using of it. Therefore he enquired of it 
again ; and this time he would fain know 
whether his kingdom should remain for many 
years. To this the oracle answered these 
words — 

" Man of Lydia, when the mule 
O'er the Medians' land shall rule, 
Think of name and fame no more, 
Fly by Hermus' stony shore." 

And Crcesus, when he heard these words, was 
yet more exceedingly delighted, for he said to 
himself, ''Surely now a mule shall never be 



THE STORY OF KING CROESUS. 29 

king of the Medes in the place of a man. 
Wherefore this kingdom shall abide to me and 
my children after me for ever." After this he 
enquired what city of the Greeks was the most 
powerful at that season ; and he found that 
there were two cities excelling in strength ; to 
wit, Athens and Sparta, but that of these the 
city of Athens was much troubled by strife 
within itself, but that Sparta was prosperous 
exceedingly, and had of late years subdued unto 
itself the greater part of the island of Pelops, 
in which island it is. For these causes he sent 
messengers to Sparta with gifts, who spake 
after this manner, " Croesus, king of Lydia and 
of other nations, hath sent us, saying, ' Men of 
Lacedsemon, the god, even Apollo, hath com- 
manded me that I should make to myself 
friends of the Greeks, whomsoever I should 
find to be the strongest. Now, therefore, 
seeing that I find you to be the chiefest people 
in Greece, I do the bidding of the oracle, and 
come to you, and would have you for my 
friends and allies in all honesty and good faith." 
These words King Croesus spake by the mouth 
of his messengers. And the thing pleased the 



STORIES OF THE EAST. 



Lacedaemonians well, for they also had heard 
the words of the oracle ; and they made a treaty 
with Crcesus, and confirmed their friendship and 
alliance with an oath. And indeed there had 
been certain kindnesses done to their city by 
King Crcesus aforetime. For they had sent 
messengers to Sardis to buy gold for a certain 
statue that they would make ; but when they 
sought to buy it, Crcesus gave it to them for a 
gift. For this cause the Lacedaemonians made 
alliance with Crcesus ; also they were well 
pleased that he had chosen them out of all the 
Greeks to be his friends. So they made them- 
selves ready to help him when he should call 
upon them ; and they prepared a mixing bowl 
of brass, wrought on the outside of it with 
divers figures of beasts about the brim. This 
bowl held three hundred firkins ; and the Lace- 
daemonians thought fit to give it to Crcesus in 
return for the things that he had given to 
them. Now the bowl came never to Sardis ; 
but as to why it came not some say one thing and 
some say another. The Lacedaemonians say 
indeed that when the men that had charge of it 
were near to the island of Samos, the Samians 



THE STORY OF KING CRCESUS. 31 

came forth with ships of war, and assailed them, 
and took away the bowl from them. But the 
men of Samos say that they who had charge of 
it, when they found that the time had passed, 
Sardis being now taken by Cyrus, sold the 
bowl in Samos, and that certain persons bought 
it and offered it for an offering in the temple of 
Here. Perchance the truth of the matter is 
this, that the men sold it indeed, yet affirmed 
when they were returned to Sparta that the 
Samians had taken it by force. And this is the 
story of the bowl. 

After these things Crcesus marched with a 
great army into the land of Cappadocia, not 
reading the oracle aright, but hoping that he 
should bring to the ground the power of Cyrus 
and the Persians. And while he was yet 
making preparations for war there came to him 
a certain man of Lydia whose name was 
Sandanis. The man had been before accounted 
wise, but thenceforth had such renown for 
wisdom among the Lydians as had none be- 
side. The man spake thus, " O King, the men 
against whom thou art preparing to make war 
have tunics of leather, and all their other gar- 



32 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

ments also are of leather, and for food they 
have not what they would but what they can 
get, and the country wherein they dwell is rocky 
and barren. Also they use not wine, but drink 
water only ; nor have they figs to eat, nor in- 
deed any good thing, If therefore, O King, 
thou shalt conquer these men, what wilt thou 
take from them, for indeed they have nothing. 
But if they should prevail over thee, think 
what good things thou wilt lose. For when 
they have once tasted our good things they will 
hold fast by them, nor wilt thou drive them 
away. As for me, I thank the Gods that they 
have not put it into the hearts of the Persians 
to march against the land of Lydia." For it 
was so that the Persians before they conquered 
the Lydians had no good things of their own. 
For all that Sandanis prevailed not with King 
Crcesus to turn him from his purpose. 



CHAPTER III. 

KING CRCESUS IS DEFEATED AND THE CITY OF 
SARDIS IS TAKEN. 

King Crcesus, being steadfastly purposed to 
make war with the Persians, marched into the 
land of the Cappadocians, wherein is the 
river Halys, being the boundary between his 
kingdom and the kingdom of Cyrus. Now the 
reasons that King Croesus had for making war 
were these. First, he desired to enlarge the 
borders of his dominion, adding thereto the 
land of the Persians ; and next, he had it in 
his heart to avenge upon Cyrus his sister's 
husband Astyages ; for Cyrus had subdued 
him, and taken from him his kingdom, as shall 
be told hereafter. But how it came to pass that 
Croesus was brother-in-law to Astyages shall be 
told at this present. Certain families of the wan- 
dering Scythians, being at variance with their 
own people, fled into the land of the Medes, the 

4 



34 STORIES OF THE EAST 

king of the Medes in those days being Cyax- 
ares, the son of Phraortes. This Cyaxares at 
the first dealt kindly with these Scythians, as 
being men who were suppliants for his grace. 
And indeed he made so much of them that he 
put with them certain children who should learn 
their language and the art of shooting with the 
bow, in which they excel. Now the Scythians 
were wont to go hunting every day, and failed 
not to bring home venison ; but after a while, 
on a certain day it chanced that they brought 
home nothing. And when King Cyaxares saw 
them returning with empty hands he was wroth 
with them, and entreated them shamefully, being 
indeed a man of violent temper. Then the Scy- 
thians bethought them how they might avenge 
themselves for this dishonour ; whereupon they 
took one of the children whom they were teach- 
ing, and cut him into pieces, and dressed the 
flesh as they were wont to dress the venison 
which they took in hunting, and gave it to the 
King as if it were some wild beast which they 
had slain. But so soon as they had given it 
they fled to Alyattes at Sardis ; and Cyaxares 
and his guests eat of the meat which had been 



THE STORY OF KING CRCESUS. 35 

prepared in this fashion. Now when the King 
heard how the Scythians had dealt with him, 
he sent to Alyattes and demanded that they 
should be given over to him for punishment, 
but Alyattes would not. After this there was 
war between the Lydians and the Medes for five 
years ; and in this war the Lydians oftentimes 
had the advantage, and the Medes also often- 
times. But when they had fought against each 
other with equal fortune for five years, it so 
befell that in the sixth year, when they joined 
battle for the first time, the day became dark as 
the night. And this change of day into night 
Thales of Miletus had foretold, and indeed 
had appointed for it the selfsame year wherein 
it happened. But when the Lydians and the 
Medes saw what had befallen, they were the 
more eager to make peace the one with the 
other ; and they that brought about this agree- 
ment were Syennesis of Cilicia, and Labynetus 
of Babylon. These caused that the two kings 
should make a treaty the one with the other, 
and should confirm it with an oath. Moreover, 
they made a covenant that Alyattes should give 
his daughter Aryenis to the son of Cyaxares to 



36 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

wife, and this son was Astyages; for they 
knew that such treaties stand not firm without 
there be some bond by which they that make 
them are bound. As for these nations they 
make oaths in the same fashion as do the 
Greeks ; only they add this, that they make a 
cutting upon their arms, and they lick up the 
blood each man from the arm of the other. 

When Croesus with his army was come to the 
river Halys, he was in great doubt how he 
should cross it. But Thales of Miletus, who 
chanced to be in the camp of the King, con- 
trived a device by which it was done. For he 
caused that the river, which before had flowed 
on the left hand of the army, should flow upon 
the right hand, And this he did by digging a 
deep ditch into which the river was turned 
•before it came to the place where the army was 
encamped ; and this, being made of the shape 
of a crescent, was carried in the rear of the army, 
and so was brought again into the river. Thus 
was the stream of the Halys divided between 
the river and the ditch ; and being divided it 
could easily be crossed. Some stories say that 
the river was wholly dried up, all the water flow- 



THE STORY OF KING CRCESUS. 37 



inof into the ditch. But this is altogether in- 
credible, for if the whole river had been turned 
into the ditch, how could King Crcesus with his 
army have crossed it when he returned from the 
battle with Cyrus to Sardis ? And indeed it is 
scarcely to be believed that the river was so 
turned, though this story be commonly told 
among the Greeks, who say that there were no 
bridges over the Halys in those days, but rather 
it is to be believed that there were bridges, and 
that the King led his army across by them. 

When Crcesus had crossed the Halys he 
came to a city of Cappadocia that was called 
Pterium ; and this Pterium was the biggest and 
strongest city of those parts, lying as near as 
may be over against Sinope, which is on the 
Black Sea. This city Crcesus took by assault, 
and sold all the dwellers therein for slaves, and 
took also all the towns thereof, and removed out 
of the place where they dwelt all the people, 
though indeed they had done him no wrong. 
When Cyrus heard that King Crcesus was come 
against him, he also gathered his army to- 
gether and went to meet him, taking with 
him as many as dwelt on the way by which 



STORIES OF THE EAST. 



he marched. But before that he set out he 
sent out heralds to the Ionians, bidding them 
revolt from Croesus, whom indeed they served 
unwillinorlv ; but the Ionians would not hearken 
to him. Cyrus therefore came up and pitched 
his camp over against the camp of the Lydians, 
which was near to the city of Pterium ; and 
after a while the two kings joined battle. And 
the battle waxed hot, and many were slain on 
both sides, but neither gained the advantage ; 
and when it was night they separated perforce. 
But Crcesus was ill content with the number of 
his army, for it was less by many thousands 
than the army of Cyrus. For which reason on 
the next day, seeing that Cyrus came not forth 
from his camp to assail him, he departed with 
all haste, returning to Sardis, for he had it in 
his mind to call the Egyptians to his help, 
according to his covenant with them, for he had 
made alliance with Amasis king of Egypt 
before he made alliance with the Lacedaemo- 
nians. Also he would send for help to the men 
of Babylon, for with these also he had alliance ; 
and in those days Labynetus was king of 
Babylon. Lastly he sent a summons to the 




I 1i 



-r<\ ^S*^-^-* - ^ \ 



s^*r 




US**!, 




%, 



' *\ V 









pfr »httf*wW 







M 




W 
E> 

09 

8 

ft: 
o 

cq 

Q 

O 

t- 
6(9 
W 
Q 
>- 

o 



c 

w 

a] 

S3 
Eh 

a, 

o 



THE STORY OF KING CRCESUS. 39 



Lacedaemonians that they should send an army 
to him at the appointed time. For his purpose 
was that he should gather together all these 
his allies, and should also collect as great an 
army as might be of his own people, and so, 
when the winter was past, and the spring 
was come again, should march against the 
Persians. Having therefore these thoughts in 
his heart, so soon as he came to Sardis he sent 
heralds to Babylon, and to Egypt, and to 
Sparta, saying that they should send each of 
them an army to him at Sardis in the fifth 
month from that time ; but as for the soldiers 
that he had hired with money, these he sent 
away, suffering them to be altogether scattered, 
for it did not so much as enter his thoughts 
that Cyrus, seeing that he had not done more 
than fight with him on equal terms, would 
march against Sardis. Now while he was 
busy considering these things there befell this 
marvel, that the whole space before the city 
was filled with serpents, and that so soon as the 
serpents were seen there the horses, leaving 
their accustomed pasture, fell to and devoured 
them. This thing Croesus held to be a portent, 



4 o STORIES OF THE EAST. 

as indeed it was ; and straightway he sent 
messengers to Telmessus, where there are 
those that interpret such things. But these 
messengers, though indeed they went to Tel- 
messus and heard from the interpreters what 
the meaning of this portent might be, were not 
able to show the matter to the King ; for before 
that they came back to Sardis King Crcesus 
had been vanquished and taken prisoner. But 
the meaning of the portent according to the 
interpreters of Telmessus was this, " Let Crce- 
sus look to see an army of strangers in his 
land ; and let him know that when this army is 
come to his land it will subdue the inhabitants 
thereof; for the serpent is a son of the land, 
but the horse is a stranger and an enemy." 
This was the answer of the interpreters of Tel- 
messus ; and they made it when Crcesus was 
already vanquished, but they knew nothing of 
that which had befallen Sardis and the king 
thereof. 

But so soon as Crcesus had departed after 
the battle at Pterium, Cyrus, knowing that he 
had it in his thought to scatter his army, judged 
that he should do well if he marched straight- 



THE STORY OF KING CRCESUS. 41 

way against Sardis before that the Lydians 
could gather themselves together against him a 
second time. And this thing he did without 
delay. For he marched into the land of Lydia 
with all haste ; nor did Croesus receive any 
message of his coming before that he saw the 
King himself with his army. Then was Crcesus 
sorely perplexed, for the matter had turned 
out wholly against his expectations. Never- 
theless he took heart and led out the Lydians 
to battle. And indeed in those days there was 
not in the whole land of Asia any nation that 
was more stalwart and valiant than the nation 
of the Lydians. ^ The people were accustomed 
to fight from horseback, carrying long spears, 
nor were there any horsemen more skilful. The 
Lydians therefore and the Persians were ar- 
rayed one against the other in the plain that 
lieth before Sardis, and this plain is very great 
and wholly bare of trees. But when Cyrus 
saw the array of the Lydians he was afraid of 
their horsemen, so many and well equipped 
were they. Then a certain Mede, Harpagus 
by name, counselled him what he should do, 
and Cyrus hearkened to him. He took all the 



42 STORIES OF THE EAST. 



camels that followed his army, carrying victuals 
and baggage, and taking their burdens from 
them, set riders upon them, arming all of 
them as horsemen. And having so furnished 
the camels, he commanded that they should go 
before his army against the horsemen of Crcesus. 
And behind the camels he put the foot soldiers, 
and behind the foot soldiers the horsemen. 
And when the whole army was drawn up in 
battle array, he straightway commanded them 
that they should slay all else of the Lydians 
who might fall in their way, but that Crcesus 
himself they should not slay, not even if he 
should defend himself when they laid hands 
upon him. Now the reason why he set the 
camels in array against the horsemen was this. 
The horse is sore afraid of the camel, and 
cannot endure to look upon the shape of the 
beast or to smell the smell. For this cause 
therefore he used this device, that the King of 
the Lydians might find no gain from his horse- 
men, by whom he hoped that he should win a 
great victory. And indeed so soon as ever 
the two armies had joined battle, and the 
horses smelled the smell of the camels and saw 



THE STORY OF KING CRCESUS. 43 

them, they turned and fled. So was Croesus 
utterly disappointed of his hope. Nevertheless 
the Lydians bare themselves bravely ; for when 
they saw what had befallen them, they leapt 
from their horses and fought with the Persians 
on foot. But after a while, when many had 
been slain on both sides, the Lydians were 
driven into their city, and were besieged therein 
by the Persians. 

Now it seemed to Croesus that the siege 
would be of many months. Therefore he sent 
again other messengers to his allies saying 
that, whereas he had before bidden them to 
assemble themselves at Sardis in the fifth 
month, there w^as now need that they should 
come with all the speed that might be, for that 
the King was besieged. Now of the other 
allies nothing need be said ; but as to the Lace- 
daemonians, when the messengers of Croesus 
came to them, they were at variance with their 
neighbours, the men of Argos. Notwithstand- 
ing, they made all haste to come to the help of 
the King ; and were indeed ready to set forth, 
with ships duly furnished, when there came to 
them tidings that the city of Sardis was taken 



44 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

and Croesus led into captivity. When they heard 
this they changed their purpose and went not ; 
nevertheless they thought it a grievous thing. 

Now the taking of Sardis was in this wise. 
On the fourteenth day after the beginning of 
the siege, Cyrus sent horsemen throughout his 
army, saying that he would give great gifts to 
the man who should first mount upon the wall. 
But when the whole army had attacked the 
city, and prevailed nothing, a certain Mardian, 
whose name was Hyrceades, desisted not as 
did the others, but made his attempt on a 
certain part of the citadel where no sentinels 
were set. And none were set because no man 
had any fear that the citadel could be taken 
from this quarter, for the place was very steep. 
And this indeed was the only part of the citadel 
to which Meles, who had been king of Sardis 
in old time, had not caused the lions cub to be 
carried. Now the story of the lion's cub is 
this. A woman in Sardis brought forth a 
young lion, and the interpreters of Telmessus 
said, " If thou carry the young lion round about 
its wall, no man shall take Sardis." So Meles 
caused them to carry the cub round about the 



THE STORY OF KING CRCESUS. 45 

wall wherever it could be attacked, but of this 
place he took no account, so steep was it and 
hard of access. Now Hyrceades had seen on 
the day before that a certain Lydian had come 
down by this place after a helmet that had 
rolled down from the top, and had fetched the 
helmet, and so returned. And having seen 
this thing he bare it in mind ; and the next day 
he climbed up the same way, and many Per- 
sians after him. So Sardis was taken and all 
the city plundered. As to the King himself, 
there befell this thing that shall now be told. 
He had a son, of whom indeed mention has 
been made before. A goodly youth he was in 
all other respects, but he was dumb. Now in 
the days of his prosperity Croesus, having done 
many other things that the youth might be 
healed of his infirmity, sent also messengers to 
the oracle of Delphi to enquire of the god. To 
these the Pythia made answer in these words — 

"O king of many lands, the thought 
Thou keepest in thy heart is vain : 

The help with many prayers besought 
Think not to ask of heaven again ; 

For ill the day and full of fear 

That first thy dumb child's voice shall hear." 



46 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

Now it came to pass that when the Persians 
were taking the citadel, one of them made as if 
he would have slain Croesus, not knowing who 
he was. And Croesus, though he saw the man 
coming against him, heeded him not, so great 
was his trouble ; for he thought that it would 
be well for him to die. But the youth, that had 
been dumb all his days, when he saw the 
Persian about to strike, by reason of his fear 
and of the instant necessity of the thing, cried 
out, saying, " Fellow, slay not King Croesus." 
Thus did he speak for the first time ; but after- 
wards, for the rest of his life, he spake even as 
other men. 



CHAPTER IV. 

CRCESUS IS SAVED FROM DEATH. OF LYDIA, THE 
LYDIANS, AND OF CERTAIN GREEKS THAT DWELT 
IN ASIA. 

So the Persians gained possession of the city 
of Sardis. And Crcesus himself they took 
alive, and led him to Cyrus their king ; and all 
the years that he had reigned were fourteen ; 
fourteen also was the number of the days for 
which his city was besieged. And thus was 
the prophecy of the oracle fulfilled, that he 
should bring to an end a great empire ; to wit, 
his own. Then Cyrus commanded that they 
should build a great pile of wood, and should 
set Crcesus thereon bound in chains, and with 
him fourteen men of Lydia, and burn them 
with fire. But whether in so doing he thought 
to offer the first-fruits of his victory to some god, 
or was performing a vow which he had made, 
or having heard that Crcesus had been a great 






48 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

worshipper of the Gods, desired now to see 
whether any god would come and help him in 
his need, cannot certainly be known. But 
when Croesus stood upon the pile, and the fire 
had now been put to it, there came into his 
thoughts, notwithstanding the great strait 
wherein he stood, that the saying of Solon was 
indeed true, and spoken by inspiration of the 
Gods, when he said that none of living men 
might be counted happy. And when he 
thought of this he cried out with a loud voice, 
having before kept silence altogether, " Solon, 
Solon, Solon ! " which when Cyrus heard, he 
bade the interpreters ask of Crcesus who was this 
that he called upon. But when the interpreters 
asked this thing, for a time Crcesus kept silence, 
but afterwards, for indeed he was constrained 
to speak, made this answer, " He is one with 
whom it would be better than many posses- 
sions for all rulers to have speech." Then, as 
no man could understand these words, they 
enquired of him again what they might signify. 
And as they were earnest with him, and would 
not leave him in peace, he told them how there 
had come to his court one Solon, aman of Athens, 




SSsXQZ^ 



k 



^^22^2SS^2^2SSS^ 



iHEifliuiiueiiigrgj 




LS1_5TS1S1_^L5TLSL^ 



CRCESUS ON THE FUNERAL PILE 



THE STORY OF KING CRGLSUS. 



49 



who having seen all his wealth and prosperity, 
had made little account of it ; and how that 
there had befallen him all that this same Solon 
had said, though indeed the man spake not of 
him in particular but of all mortal men, and 
especially of those who judged themselves to 
be happy. This was the answer which Crcesus 
made ; and now the pile had been lighted, and 
the extremities were on fire. But when Cyrus 
heard from the interpreters the words of Crcesus, 
he repented him of his purpose, bethinking him 
how that he, being but a mortal man, was now 
giving another man that had aforetime been 
not less prosperous than himself to be burned 
with fire, and fearing lest there should come 
upon him vengeance for such a deed, and con- 
sidering also that there was nothing sure in 
human affairs. For w T hich reasons he bade 
them that stood by quench the fire and cause 
Crcesus and the men that were with him to 
descend from the pile. But these, with all their 
striving, could not prevail over the fire. Then 
Crcesus — for this is the story of the Lydians — 
when he saw that Cyrus had repented him of 
his purpose, and that every one was striving 

5 



5o STORIES OF THE EAST. 

to quench the fire but could not, cried with a 
loud voice to Apollo, beseeching the god that if 
he had ever made an offering that was to his 
liking, hewould deliver him from his present 
peril. This he besought of the god with many 
tears, and lo ! of a sudden, though the day 
before had been fine and calm, there came a 
great storm with a most vehement rain, which 
quenched the fire. Then Cyrus knew of a 
surety that Crcesus was a good man and dear 
to the Gods. And having caused him to 
descend from the pile, he asked him, saying, 
" Tell me, Crcesus, what man persuaded thee 
to lead thy army against my land, and to make 
me thine enemy, having been before thy 
friend ? " Then Crcesus answered, " This I 
did, O King, for thy good fortune, but to my 
loss. Nor was it a man that did this, but the 
god of the Greeks, who encouraged me to 
make war against thee. For surely no man 
is so foolish that of his own will he should 
choose war instead of peace ; for in peace 
the children bury their fathers, but in war the 
fathers bury their children. But these things 
have fallen out as the Gods would have them." 



THE STORY OF KING CRCESUS. 51 

When he had said these things Cyrus bade 
them loose his chains, and put him near to 
himself, and marvelled when he regarded him, 
both he and the Persians that were with him. 
And Crcesus said nothing, thinking about many 
things. But after a while, when he saw the 
Persians plundering the city of the Lydians, he 
turned him to King Cyrus, and said, " Is it 
allowed to me, O King, to speak that which is 
in my heart, or shall I be silent ? " And Cyrus 
bade him be of courage^ and speak what he 
would. Then Crcesus asked him, " What is it 
that this great multitude is so busy about ? " 
" They are spoiling thy city," said Cyrus, "and 
carrying off thy possessions." " Nay," said 
Crcesus, " this is not my city that they spoil, 
nor my possessions that they carry off; for 
I have now no share or lot in these things. But 
the things that they plunder are thine." Then 
Cyrus took heed of the words which Crcesus 
had spoken to him ; and bidding all others 
leave him, he asked him again what he thought 
of these matters. Then Crcesus made answer, 
" The Gods have made me thy servant; where- 
fore I count it right to tell thee if I perceive 



52 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

aught that thou seest not. The Persians are 
haughty by nature, but they are poor. And if 
thou sufferest them to plunder in this fashion 
and to gain for themselves great wealth, be sure 
that this will befall thee. That man among 
them who shall get the most will be he that 
will rebel against thee. If therefore my words 
please thee, do according to my bidding. Set 
spearmen as guards at all the gates, and let them 
take away from all that come out the things 
that they carry with them, saying at the same 
time, 'We must needs give tithe to Zeus of all 
these things.' And they will not hate thee as 
if thou didst take the things from them by force, 
but will judge thee to do that which is right, 
and will give them up willingly." When Cyrus 
heard these words he was pleased with them 
beyond measure, judging them to have been 
wisely said. So when he had commended 
Crcesus for his wisdom, and had given com- 
mandment to the spearmen according to these 
words, he said, " Thou hast it in thy heart to 
do good deeds and to say good words as be- 
htteth a king ; ask therefore some boon of me 
which thou wouldest have granted to thee 



THE STORY OF KING CRCESUS. 53 

straightway." Then said Croesus, " O King, 
thou canst not please me more, than if thou 
wilt suffer me to send to the god of the Greeks, 
whom I have honoured with gifts more than all 
Gods beside, and to lay these fetters before him, 
and ask him whether it is his custom to deceive 
them that do him honour." And when Cyrus 
would know why he desired to put this question 
accusing the god, Croesus set before him the 
whole matter, both that which he had asked, 
and the answer of the god, and the offerings 
which he had made, and how he had made war 
against the Persians, being encouraged thereto 
by the god. And when he had ended this 
tale he besought Cyrus again that he would 
suffer him to reproach the god with these 
things. And Cyrus, when he heard it, laughed 
and said, " This request I grant thee, O 
Croesus, as I will grant thee everything that 
that thou shalt ask me hereafter." And when 
Croesus heard these words he sent certain 
Lydians to Delphi, and bade them lay the 
fetters on the threshold of the temple and 
enquire of the god whether he was not 
ashamed to have encouraged Croesus by his 






54 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

oracles to march against the Persians, thinking- 
that he should overthrow the empire of Cyrus, 
of which undertaking these, the fetters to wit, 
were the first-fruits, and whether it was the 
custom of the god of the Greeks to be un- 
faithful. And when the Lydians did as had 
been commanded them, the Pythia made 
this answer, " That which is fated it is by no 
means possible to avoid, not even to a god. 
And Croesus hath suffered for the transgressions 
of his forefather in the fifth generation, who, 
being a body-guard of the king, slew his master, 
a woman helping him with her craft, and took his 
honour to himself, though he had no part or 
lot in it. And Apollo was very earnest with 
the Fates that they should not bring this evil 
upon Sardis in the days of Croesus, but that 
they should bring it in his son's days. Yet 
could he not prevail. Nevertheless all that the 
Fates granted to him that did he for Croesus, 
delaying the taking of Sardis for the space of 
three years ; for let Croesus be sure of this, 
that the taking of Sardis is later by three years 
than had been ordained at the first. Also when 
he was in peril of being burnt with fire the 



THE STORY OF KING CRCESUS. 55 

god helped him and delivered him. And as 
for the oracle, Crcesus doth not right to blame 
him, for Apollo foretold to him that, if he 
should make war against the Persians, he should 
bring to the ground a great empire. If there- 
fore he had been well advised in this matter, he 
should have sent again to enquire of the god 
whether his own empire or the empire of Cyrus 
were thus signified. But seeing that he under- 
stood not the thing which was said, nor enquired 
a second time, let him blame himself. And as 
to that which Apollo answered him when he 
enquired of him the last time, speaking of a 
mule, this also Crcesus understood not. For 
Cyrus was this mule, being born of parents that 
were not of the same race, his mother also being 
of the more noble stock and his father of the 
worse. For she was a woman of the Medes 
and the daughter of King Astyages, and he was 
a Persian and no king, but a servant that 
married the daughter of his master." This was 
the answer that the priestess gave to the 
Lydians ; and when Crcesus heard it he con- 
fessed that he had erred and not the god. 

In this way did the empire of the Lydians 



56 STORIES OF THE EAST 



come to an end. These Lydians were the first 
that found out the coining of gold and silver. 
Also they were the first traders. And they say 
of themselves that they first made the games 
at which they and the Greeks are used to play. 
Also they declare that in the days when these 
games were first made by them they colonized 
the land of Tyrsenia, which is in Italy. And 
their story of this matter is this. In the days of 
Atys the son of Manes there was a sore famine 
throughout the whole land of Lydia. And for 
a while the Lydians were instant in prayers to 
the Gods that they would help them ; but, as 
the famine ceased not, they sought for remedies, 
contriving some one thing and some another. 
In those days they devised dice-playing and 
ball-playing and all other kinds of games that 
men use, save chess only, for this the Lydians 
say not that they devised. And their manner 
with the games was this. One day they would 
play continually, that they might not have any 
thought for food, and the next day they would 
leave off from their playing and eat. In this 
fashion they endured for the space of eighteen 
years. But as the evil abated not but rather 



THE STORY OF KING CROESUS. 57 

grew worse, the King divided the people of 
Lydia into two parts, making them cast lots, 
that the one part should remain in the land, and 
the other part should go forth to some other 
country. And that part which drew the lot for 
remaining he took to himself, but that part which 
should go forth he gave to his son, whose name 
was Tyrsenus. These then went down to the 
seacoast, to Smyrna, and there built them ships, 
into which they put all things that they needed 
for a voyage, and so set sail, seeking for liveli- 
hood and a country wherein they might dwell ; 
in which search, having passed by many lands, 
they came to the land of the Umbri, and there 
built for themselves cities, in the which they 
dwell to this day. Also they changed their 
name, calling themselves no more Lydians but 
Tyrsenians, after the name of the Kings son, 
Tyrsenus, who had led them forth. 

Now the men of Ionia and yEolia, so soon as 
they knew that the Lydians had been subdued 
by the Persians, sent messengers to Cyrus, say- 
ing that they would fain be his servants after 
the same manner in which they had been the 
servants of Croesus. But when they had made 



58 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

their oration to him he spake to them for an 
answer this parable. " A certain flute-player, 
seeing fishes in the sea, played his flute to them, 
thinking that they would come forth from the 
sea on to the land at his playing. But when 
they would not do as he had hoped, he took a 
net, and cast it, and having encompassed there- 
with a great multitude of fishes, he drew it to 
the land. And when he saw them that they 
flapped their tails upon the ground, he said, 
1 Cease this dancing, for ye would not come out 
and dance upon the land when I piped to you.' " 
This said Cyrus because in the beginning of the 
war he had sent to these men bidding them 
rebel against Croesus, and they would not, but 
now when they knew that he had gotten himself 
the victory, they were ready to be his servants. 
For this cause he was very wroth with them ; 
and when the men of Ionia and ^Eolia heard 
his words, they knew that he purposed evil 
against them, and began to prepare themselves 
accordingly. 

First they sent messengers to Sparta to ask 
for help ; who, when they were come, chose 
Pythermus, a man of Phocaea, to speak for 



THE STORY OF KING CRCESUS. 59 

them. This Pythermus, having clad himself in 
purple, which he did that all the Spartans might 
come together to see him, stood up in the 
assembly, and told his business. But the 
Spartans consented not to help ; only after that 
the messengers had departed they sent certain 
men in a ship of fifty oars, who should see 
for themselves how things were with Cyrus and 
the Ionians. The chief of these men, a certain 
Lacrines, went up to Sardis, and declared to 
Cyrus the pleasure of the Lacedaemonians, that 
he should not harm any city of the Greeks, for 
that they would not suffer it. But when Cyrus 
heard these words he enquired of certain Greeks 
that were with him, what manner of men and 
how many in number these Lacedaemonians 
might be that they laid such commands upon 
him. And when he heard he said to Lacrines, 
" I regard not at all the folk who have a set 
place in the midst of their city whither they 
assemble and forswear themselves and deceive 
each other. Surely, if it be well with me, all 
that the Ionians have suffered they shall suffer." 
Cyrus said this reproaching the Greeks because 
they have markets wherein they buy and sell, 
for the Persians use not to do any such thing. 



60 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

After this Cyrus departed, and took Croesus 
with him ; and over Sardis and the Lydians he 
made a certain Persian, named Tabalus, governor, 
but the charge of the gold he gave to Pactyas, 
a man of Lydia. But Pactyas took the gold, 
and having hired soldiers besieged Tabalus in 
the citadel of Sardis. When tidings of these 
things were brought to Cyrus as he journeyed 
eastward, he changed not his purpose, having 
weightier things in hand, but sent Mazares a 
Mede with a part of the army to deal with the 
Lydians and Ionians. Of whose coming when 
Pactyas heard he escaped from the citadel of 
Sardis and fled to Cumae. Whereupon Mazares 
sent messengers to Cumae, bidding the inhabi- 
tants deliver up the enemy of the King. But 
the men of Cumae doubted what they should 
do, and sent messengers to enquire of the god 
in Branchidae of Miletus ; to whom the pr>d 
answered that they should deliver up Pactyas. 
But when this answer was brought back, and the 
people were now ready to deliver him up, the 
thing pleased not one of the chief men, Aristo- 
dicus by name, who persuaded the men of Cumae 
that they should send yet again and enquire of 



THE STORY OF KING CRCESVS. 61 

the god by the hand of other messengers. So 
they sent other messengers, among whom was 
Aristodicus himself. When they were come to 
the oracle, Aristodicus, being spokesman for the 
rest, spake, saying, " O King, there came to us 
a certain Pactyas, a man of Lydia, flying from 
the Persians, who were ready to put him to 
death. And now these Persians will have us 
deliver him to them. But we, though we fear 
them, are yet loath to deliver the man to death, 
and so are come asking thee what we should 
do." To this the god answered again that they 
should deliver him up. But when Aristodicus 
heard this he went about the temple taking the 
young birds out of their nests, for many birds 
had built therein. As he did this there came a 
voice out of the shrine, " What doest thou, thou 
wicked man, taking these that have sought 
sanctuary with me ? " Then Aristodicus an- 
swered, "O King, thou indeed defendest them 
that seek sanctuary with thee, but thou biddest 
the men of Cumae deliver up this suppliant. 
And the god answered, " Yea, I bade you do 
this thing, that so ye might perish utterly, and 
might not ask such ill questions of the god 



62 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

any more." When the men of Cumae heard 
these words they neither were willing to deliver 
him up nor to keep him, and so be besieged. 
Therefore they sent him to Mitylene. But when 
they knew that the men of Mitylene were pre- 
paring to deliver him up for a reward, they sent 
a ship and took him to Chios ; but the Chians 
delivered him up to the Persians, receiving for 
him a certain place called Atarnes, which is in 
Mysia, over against Lesbos. And to this day 
Atarnes is accursed, and the Chians use not 
any of its fruits for sacrifice. 

After this Tabalus, having subdued certain 
cities of Ionia, died, and Cyrus sent Harpagus 
a Mede, of whom there is much to be said 
hereafter, to be captain in his room. And the 
first city which Harpagus made ready to attack 
was Phocaea. Now the men of Phocaea were 
mighty sailors, and were the first of the 
Greeks to make long voyages, visiting, besides 
other places, Tartessus, which is in Spain. 
Now in Tartessus they found a certain king 
whose name was Arganthonius. He was a 
very old man of sixscore years, and he had 
reigned in Tartessus fourscore years. This 



THE STORY OF KING CRCESUS. 



Arganthonius dealt very kindly with the Pho- 
caeans, and when he knew that the power of 
the Medes waxed great in Asia, gave them 
much money that they might build them a 
wall ; which wall indeed they built of great 
stones well fitted together. Now when Har- 
pagus was come to Phocaea, he sent messengers 
bidding them submit themselves to Cyrus ; and 
he said that it would suffice if they would throw 
down one battlement on their wall, and set 
apart one house in their city. But the men of 
Phocaea asked for one day that they might 
deliberate, and would have Harpagus take his 
army from before their city for so long. Then 
said Harpagus, " I know well what ye pur- 
pose to do, yet shall ye have the day." And he 
took his army from before the city. Then the 
Phocaeans launched their ships, and put therein 
their wives and children and their goods, and 
all the images from the temples, and all the 
offerings, save such as were of brass or stone, 
or pictures ; and having done this they sailed 
to Chios ; and the Persians took Phocaea, being 
deserted of its inhabitants. 

But the Phocaeans would fain have bought 



64 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

certain islands of the people of Chios, but these 
would not sell them, fearing lest they should 
suffer in trading. Then they sailed to Cyrnus, 
where twenty years before they had built a city. 
But first they sailed back to Phocaea and slew the 
garrison which Harpagus had set there to keep 
it ; and having slain the garrison, they threw an 
anvil of iron into the sea, and sware that they 
would not return to the city till they should see 
the anvil floating on the water. Yet, while 
they were voyaging to Cyrnus, half and more 
repented them of their purpose, and brake their 
oath, and went back to Phocaea, and dwelt 
there. But such as kept to their oath sailed 
to Cyrnus, where they dwelt for five years. 
But at the end of five years the Phoenicians 
and the men of Carthage made alliance and 
sailed against them, for they plundered all the 
neighbouring parts. Then was there a great 
battle, and the Phocaeans prevailed, yet lost 
forty ships out of threescore. Then those that 
remained sailed to Rhegium in Italy, and built 
a city in those parts. 

The men of Tios did as the Phocaeans had 
done, for they put all that they had in ships, 



THE STORY OF KING CRCESUS. 65 

and departed, and dwelt in a city of Thrace 
called Abdera. But all the other Ionians on 
the mainland submitted themselves to Cyrus ; 
and the islanders did likewise, fearing what 
might befall them. 

After this Harpagus subdued the other 
nations that are in those parts, as the Ca- 
rians and the Lycians and others. About 
these there is nothing worthy to be told, save 
about the Lycians of Xanthus only. For 
these first of all fought against the Persians 
before their city, and being vanquished for all 
their valour, for they were few fighting against 
many, and being shut up in their city, yet 
would not yield themselves. For first they 
gathered together in their citadel their wives 
and their children and their slaves and all 
their goods, and burnt them w T ith fire. And 
having done this, they bound themselves with 
dreadful oaths, and fell upon the Persians, and 
died fighting all of them. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE BIRTH AND BRINGING UP OF CYRUS. 

Astyages kino- of the Medes had a daughter 
whose name was Mandane ; and of this daueh- 
ter, when she was but a child, he dreamed such 
a dream that he feared exceedingly what might 
happen to him and to his kingdom by reason 
of her. Therefore when she grew of ap"e to be 
married, he gave her not to a man of her own 
race, but he gave her to a Persian, whose name 
was Cambyses. And this Cambyses was indeed 
of a noble house, but of a quiet and peaceable 
temper. Only because he was a Persian, As- 
tyages held him to be of less account than a 
Mede, whether he were noble or no. 

But in the first year of the marriage King 
Astyages dreamed another dream of his 
daughter, which made him yet more afraid than 
had the former dream. Therefore he sent for 
the woman, who was now about to brino- forth 



THE STORY OF KING CYRUS. 67 

her first-born child, and kept her in the palace, 
being minded to put to death that which should 
be born of her, for the interpreters of dreams 
had signified to him that the son of his daughter 
should be king in his stead. When therefore 
she bare Cyrus, for they gave this name to the 
child, Astyages called to him one Harpagus, 
who was of his kindred, and faithful to him 
beyond all other of the Medes, and who had 
also the care of his household. And when 
Harpagus was come to him, the King said, 
" Harpagus, see thou that in the matter which 
I shall now put in thy charge thou in no wise 
neglect my commandment, nor prefer others to 
me, and so in the end bring great sorrow on 
thyself. Now the matter is this. Thou shalt 
take this child that Mandane my daughter hath 
lately borne, and carry it to thy home, and there 
slay it ; and afterwards thou shalt bury it in 
such fashion as thou wilt." To this Harpagus 
said, " O King, thou hast never perceived any 
transgression in thy servant in time past ; and 
he will take good heed that he sin not against 
thee in time to come. And as for this matter 
of which thou speakest, if thou wilt have it so, 



63 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

it must needs be done." When Harpagus had 
said this, they gave him the child into his hands, 
the child being dressed as if for death and 
burial, and he took it and went to his home 
weeping. And when he was come thither he 
said to his wife all the words that King Asty- 
ages had said to him. Then the woman spake, 
saying, " What then art thou minded to do in 
this matter ?" And he said, " Of a surety I shall 
not do as the King hath commanded me. For 
though he should be turned aside to folly, and 
be stricken with madness even more grievously 
than he is now stricken, yet why should I be 
-jthe slayer of this child ? And the causes where- 
fore I will not do this thing are many. For first 
he is of my own kindred, and next Astyages is 
an old man and hath no male offspring. If then 
when he shall die, his kingdom shall go to his 
daughter, whose child he biddeth me to slay, 
surely I shall stand in great peril. It must 
needs be that the child die ; for how else shall 
I escape, but the slayer shall be one of the 
servants of Astyages, and not I or one of my 
own servants." When he had thus spoken, he 
sent a messenger straightway to one of the 



THE STORY OF KING CYRUS. 69 

herdsmen of Astyages, knowing that the man 
dwelt in a place well fitted for the purpose, that 
is to say, a mountain abounding in wild beasts. 
The name of this herdsman was Mitradatss, 
and his wife w r as a slave woman, Soaco bv name. 
As for the pastures where he pastured his herd, 
they lay under the mountains which are north- 
wards from Egbatana, towards the Black Sea. 
For this region of the land of Media is covered 
with woods and mountains, but the country for 
the most part is a plain country. The herds- 
man therefore beinof thus called came with all 
speed. And when he was come, Harpagus said 
to him, " Astyages bids thee take this child 
and put him in some desert place among the 
mountains that he may speedily perish. And 
he bids me say that if thou slay him not, but in 
any way sufferest him to live, he will destroy 
thee most miserably. And I am appointed to 
see that this thing be done." 

When the herdsman heard these words he 
took the child and went on his way to his home, 
and came to the stalls of the cattle. Now it 
chanced that his wife had been in travail all 
that day, and that she bare a child w T hile the 



jo STORIES OF THE EAST. 

herdsman was at the city. And the two were 
much troubled each about the other ; for the 
husband feared lest haply it should go ill with 
his wife in her travail, and the woman was 
afraid because Harpagus had sent for her hus- 
band in much haste, which thing he had not 
been wont to do. When therefore he had 
returned, the woman, seeing that he was come 
back speedily and beyond her hope, asked of 
him, saying, " Why did Harpagus send for thee 
in such haste ? " Then the man made answer, 
" When I was come to the city I saw and heard 
such things as I would had never befallen my 
masters ; for the whole house of Harpagus 
was full of weeping and wailing. And when I 
went into the house, being sore astonished at 
these things, I saw a child lying there and 
crying ; and the child was adorned with gold 
and fine clothing. And Harpagus, so soon as 
he saw me, bade me take up the child with all 
haste and depart, and put it on such mountain 
as I knew to be most haunted by wild beasts. 
And he said that King Astyages had given 
commandment that this should be done. And 
he added many threats of what should befall 



THE STORY OF KING CYRUS. 71 

me, if I should not do as he had bidden me. 
Wherefore I took the child, and carried it 
away, thinking that it was the child of some 
one in the household ; for the truth, as it was, I 
could not have imagined, yet did I marvel to 
see that the child was adorned with gold and 
fine apparel, and also that there should be so 
great a mourning in the house of Harpagus. 
But as I went on my way, one of the servants 
of Harpagus, whom he had sent with me, 
recounted to me the whole matter, that this 
child was the son of Mandane the daughter of 
Astyages and Cambyses the son of Cyrus, and 
that Astyages had given commandment that it 
should be slain. This therefore is the child 
whom thou seest." And when the herdsman 
had said this he took away the covering, and 
showed the child to his wife. And when she 
saw the babe, that it was fair and well-favoured, 
she wept, and laid hold of her husband by his 
knees and besought him that he would not do 
this thing, putting forth the child to die. But 
the man answered that he could not by any 
means do otherwise, for that Harpagus would 
send those who would see whether the thing had 



72 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

been done or no, and that he should perish 
miserably if he should be found to have trans- 
gressed the commandment. Then the woman, 
seeing that she could not prevail with her 
husband, spake to him again, saying, "If then 
I cannot prevail with thee that thou shouldest 
not put forth the child, yet listen to me. If the 
men must needs see a child put forth, do 
thou this thing that I shall tell thee. I was 
delivered of a child this day, and the child was 
dead when it was born. Take therefore this 
dead child and put it forth, and let us rear this 
child of the daughter of Astyages as if it were 
our own. So thou wilt not be found to trans- 
gress the commands of thy masters, and we 
shall also have done well for ourselves. For 
indeed the dead child shall have a royal burial, 
and the living child shall not be slain." And here 
the woman seemed to her husband the herds- 
man to have spoken very wisely and season- 
ably, and he did according to her word. For 
the child that He had brought with him that he 
might cause him to die, this he gave to his wife 
to rear ; and his own child, being dead already, 
he put into the basket wherein he had carried 



THE STORY OF KING CYRUS. 



the other. With this he put all the ornaments 
wherewith the child had been adorned, and 
carried it to the most desolate place that he 
knew among the mountains, and there laid it 
forth. And on the third day after he had done 
this, he went again to the city, leaving his herds 
in the charge of one of them that were under 
him, and entering into the house of Harpagur, 
said he was ready to show the dead body of the 
child to any whom he might send. Wherefore 
Harpagus sent such of his own body-guard as 
he judged to be most faithful, and saw the 
thing, not himself indeed, but with their eyes, 
and afterwards buried the child that was the 
child of the herdsman. As for the child that 
had afterwards the name of Cyrus, the wife of 
the herdsman took him and reared him, but 
called him by some other name. When the 
boy was ten years old there befell a thing by 
which his birth was discovered. He was wont 
to play with other boys that were his equals in 
age, in the village wherein were the dwellings 
of the herdsman and his fellows. And the boys 
in their sport chose him, being, as was sup- 
posed, the herdsman's son, to be their king. 



74 STORIES OF THE EAST. 



And he, being thus chosen, gave to each his 
proper work, setting one to build houses, and 
others to be his body-guards, and one to be the 
" Eye of the King," and others to carry mes- 
ages, to each his own work. Now one of the 
boys that played with him, beingthe son of one 
Artembares, a man of renown among the Medes, 
would not do the thing which Cyrus had com- 
manded him. Wherefore Cyrus bade the other 
boys lay hold of him ; and when these had done 
his bidding he corrected him for his fault with 
many and grievous stripes. But the boy, so 
soon as he was let go, thinking that he had suf- 
fered a grievous wrong, went in great wrath to 
the city and made complaint to his father of 
the things which he had suffered at the hands of 
Cyrus ; only he spake not of Cyrus, for he bare 
not as yet that name, but of the herdsman's 
son. Then Artembares, being in a great rage, 
went straightway to King Astyages, taking with 
him his son, as one that had been shamefully 
entreated. And he said to the King, " See, O 
Kino-, how we have been wronged by this 
slave who is the son of thy herdsman." And 
he showed him the lad's shoulders, where might 



THE STORY OF KING CYRUS. 



be seen the marks of the stripes. When As- 
tyages heard and saw these things he was 
ready to avenge the lad on him that had done 
these things, wishing to do honour to Artem- 
bares. Therefore he sent for the herdsman 
and the boy. And when they were both come 
before him, Astyages looked towards Cyrus, 
" How didst thou, being the son of this herds- 
man, dare to do such shameful things to the 
son of a man who is first of all them that stand 
before me ?" To this Cyrus made answer, " My 
lord, all this that I did, I did with good cause ; 
for the boys of the village, this also being one 
of them, in their play chose me to be their 
king, for I seemed to them to be the fittest 
for this honour. All the others indeed did the 
things which I commanded them ; but this 
boy was disobedient and paid no heed to me ; 
for which things he received punishment as was 
due. And if thou deemest it fit that I should 
suffer for so doing, lo, here I am ! " When the 
lad spake in this fashion, Astyages, considering 
with himself the whole matter, knew him who 
he was. For the likeness of his countenance 
betrayed him ; his speech also was more free 



76 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

than could be looked for in the son of a herds- 
man, and his a°fe also agreed with the time of 
putting forth the child of his daughter. And 
being beyond measure astonished at these 
things, for a while he sat speechless ; but at last, 
having scarcely come to himself, he said to Ar- 
tembares, " Artembares, I will so deal with this 
matter that neither thou nor thy son shall blame 
me," for he would have the man go forth from 
his presence, that having the herdsman alone 
he might question him more closely concerning 
these matters. 

Then the King sent Artembares away, and 
bade his servants take Cyrus with them into 
the house. Being therefore left alone with the 
herdsman, he enquired of him, saying, " Tell 
me whence didst thou receive this child, and 
who is he that gave him to thee ? " Then said 
the herdsman, " Surely he is my son, and she 
that bare him is my wife, and is yet alive in 
my house." But the King answered, " Thou 
answerest not well for thyself; thou wilt bring 
thyself into great peril." And he bade his 
guards lay hold upon him. But the man, w T hen 
he saw that he was being led away to the tor- 



THE STORY OF KIXG CYRUS. 77 



mentors, said that he would tell the whole 
truth. And indeed he unfolded the story from 
the beginning, and neither changed nor con- 
cealed anything. And when he had ended, he 
was earnest in prayer to the King that he would 
have mercy upon him and pardon him. 

As for the herdsman indeed, when he had 
thus told the truth, Astyages took little heed of 
him ; but he had great wrath against Harpagus, 
and sent to him by his guards that he should 
come forthwith. And when he w r as come, the 
King said to him, " Harpagus, how didst thou 
slay the boy whom I delivered to thee that was 
born of my daughter ?" And Harpagus, seeing 
that the herdsman stood before the Kine, 
sought not to hide the matter, for he judged 
that he should be easily convicted if he should 
speak that which was false. Therefore he 
said, " O King, when I took the child from thy 
hands, I considered with myself how I might 
best do thy pleasure, so that I might both be 
blameless before thee, and also free of blood- 
guiltiness as concerning thy daughter. And I 
did after this manner. I called this herdsman 
to me, and gave the child into his hands, telling 



7 8 STORIES OF THE EAST 

him that thou hadst given commandment that 
it should be slain. Then I bade him take the 
child, and put it out in some desert place among 
the mountains, and watch by it till it should die. 
And at the same time I used to him all manner 
of threats, if he should not in all things fulfil 
my words. And when the man had done 
according to my bidding, I sent the most faith- 
ful of my servants, and having seen by their 
eyes that the child was dead, I buried him. 
This is the truth of the matter, O King, and in 
this manner the child died." 

When Harpagus had ended this story, 
wherein he spake, as he thought, the whole 
truth, Astyages hid his anger in his heart, and 
related the whole matter as he had heard it 
from the herdsman ; and when it was ended, he 
said, " The boy yet lives ; and it is well ; for 
indeed I have been much troubled, remember- 
ing what had been done to the child ; nor did I 
count it a light matter that my daughter was 
displeased with me. Now, therefore, that the 
matter hath turned out so well, first send thine 
own son that he may be a companion to this 
boy, and next come and dine with me to-day, 



THE STORY OF KING CYRUS. 79 



for I would have a feast of thanksgiving for this 
boy that was dead and is alive again." When 
Harpagus heard these words, he bowed him- 
self down before the King, rejoicing beyond 
measure that his transgression had had so 
good an ending, and that he had been called to 
the feast of thanksgiving ; and he went to his 
house. And being come, in the joy of his 
heart he told to his wife all that had befallen 
him. But the King, so soon as the son of 
Harpagus was come into the house, took him 
and slew him, and cut him limb from limb ; 
and of the flesh he roasted some, and some he 
boiled ; and so, having dressed it with much care, 
made it ready against the dinner. And when 
the hour of dinner was come, Harpagus and 
the other guests sat down to meat ; and before 
Harpagus was set a dish of the flesh of his 
own son, wherein was every part, save only the 
head and the tips of the hands and of the feet. 
For these lay apart by themselves with a cover- 
ing over them. And when Harpagus had 
eaten enough, the King asked him, " Was this 
dish to thy mind." And when the man answered 
that it was indeed to his mind, certain men who 



So STORIES OF THE EAST. 

had had commandment to do this thing; brought 
the head and the hands and the feet, covered 
with their cover. These stood before Harpa- 
gus, and bade him uncover and take what he 
would. And when Harpagus so did, he saw 
what remained of his son. Yet, seeing it, he 
was not amazed, but still commanded himself. 
Then the King enquired of him, " Knowest 
thou what beast this is, of whom thou hast 
eaten?" And Harpagus made answer, "I 
know it ; and all that the King doeth is well." 
Then he took what was left of the flesh and 
carried it with him to his house, and buried it. 



CHAPTER VI. 

CYRUS OVERTHROWETH ASTYAGES AND TAKETII 
THE KINGDOM TO HIMSELF. 

When King Astyages had punished Harpagus 
for his transgression in this fashion, he took 
counsel what he should do with Cyrus. Where- 
fore he sent for the same Marians who had 
interpreted to him his dream concerning his 
daughter. And when they were come, Asty- 
ages enquired of them how they interpreted 
the dream. And they spake again after the 
former fashion, saying that it was signified by 
this dream that the boy must needs be a king, 
if he should live to be of full a^e. And when 
they had so spoken the King spake thus to 
them, " The child is yet alive ; and it came to 
pass that in the village wherein he liveth the 
lads his companions made him their king. 
And being so made, he did all things that they 
who are verily kings are wont to do ; for he 

7 



82 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

made some body-guards, and some porters, and 
some bearers of messages ; and to others he 
gave other offices. Think ye that this hath 
aught to do with our matter ? " The Marians 

o o 

said, " If the child is yet alive and was made 
king after this fashion, but not of any set pur- 
pose of thine, thou mayest be of good courage; 
for he will not be a king again. And indeed it 
happeneth oftentimes that oracles and dreams 
and the like have their fulfilment after this 
manner in little things, and so come to nothing." 
To this Astyages made answer again, " I, too, 
O Magians, am myself also greatly inclined to 
this opinion of the matter, that the dream 
was fulfilled when the boy was called by the 
name of a king, and that there is no cause 
why I should fear him any more. Never- 
theless consider the matter well, and advise me 
how I shall best order these things both for 
my own house and also for you." Then the 
Magians said again, " O King, it is not thy gain 
only but ours also that thy kingdom should be 
established. For verily if it go to this boy, it 
will pass away from our nation, seeing he is a 
Persian ; and if it so pass, then shall we be 



THE STORY OF KING CYRUS. S3 

as strangers, and shall be of no account in 
comparison of the Persians. But if thou art 
established in thy kingdom, seeing that thou art 
of the same country, then shall it in some sort 
be ours ; and we also shall receive great honours 
at thy hands. Wherefore we should by all 
means take thought for thee and for thy 
dominion. And now, if we perceived before- 
hand any peril, surely we should not hide it 
from thee ; but seeing that the dream which 
made thee afraid hath ended in nothing, we 
are ourselves of good courage, and would bid 
thee also be of the same. As for this boy, send 
him away out of thy sight to the land of the 
Persians, even to his father and his mother/' 
When Astyages heard this, he rejoiced exceed- 
ingly, and when he had called Cyrus to him 
he said, " My son, I sought to do thee wrong 
by reason of a dream that I had, which dream 
hath failed of its accomplishment; and now 
seeing that thy good luck hath saved thee, go 
thy way in peace to the Persians, and I will 
send some to take thee on thy way. There wilt 
thou find thy father and thy mother; and these 
not such as are the herdsman and his wife." 



84 STORIES OF THE EAST. 



Then Astyages sent away Cyrus to Persia, 
to his father and mother, who received him 
with great joy, for they had thought that he 
was dead. And when he grew to manhood, 
there could not be found among his fellows that 
were of like age one that had such courage and 
virtue, and was in such favour with all men. 
Then, after a while, there came to him mes- 
sengers with gifts from Harpagus ; for the man 
desired exceedingly to have vengeance upon 
Astyages, but knew not how, being but a private 
man, he could gain his end ; seeing therefore that 
Cyrus was grown to such excellence, he sought 
to make friendship and alliance with the young 
man ; for he judged that they had suffered wrong, 
both of them, at the hands of the King. And 
indeed he had before this wrought for the same- 
end. For Astyages was wont to deal cruelly 
with his people, and Harpagus had talked with 
certain of the chief men of the Medes, persuading 
them that they should rebel against Astyages 
and make Cyrus king in his stead. Now there- 
fore, all things being ready, he sought to have 
communication with Cyrus and show him his 
purpose, but knew not how he should do it 



THE STORY OF KING CYRUS. 85 

seeing that the roads were guarded. But at 
the last he devised this device. He took a hare, 
and ripped up the beast, but took not from it 
the skin, and having written on a roll all that 
he would say to Cyrus, put the roll within and 
sewed up again the belly of the beast. Then 
he equipped one of his household, that he 
judged to be the most faithful, as for hunting, 
giving him nets and the like, and with them the 
hare. This man, therefore, he sent into the 
land of Persia, and instructed him by word of 
mouth that he should give the hare into the 
hands of Cyrus, and should bid him open it 
himself when no man should be near. All this 
was done as he would have it ; and Cyrus, 
having received the hare, opened it with his 
own hand, and having found the roll, read it. 
Now Harpagus had written in the roll these 
words : " Son of Cambyses, seeing that the 
Gods have a care for thee, for else thou hadst 
not come to such prosperity, bethink thee how 
thou mayest have vengeance on Astyages, who 
would have slain thee. For indeed, as regards 
him, thou hadst died long ago, but yet through 
the favour of the Gods and my help thou 



85 STORIES OF THE EAST. 



livest. For I judge that thou hast now for a 
long time known the truth about thyself, and 
what I have suffered at the hands of Astyages, 
because I slew thee not, but rather gave thee to 
the herdsman. Now, therefore, if thou wilt 
hearken to me, thou shalt be master of all the 
country which King Astyages now hath. Per- 
suade the Persians that they revolt, and make 
war against the Medes. And it shall happen 
as thou wouldst have it, whether I be set by 
Astyages to command the army that shall be 
sent against thee, or whether any other of the 
principal men among the Medes be so set. For 
they will be the first to rebel against him, and 
will do what they can to the end that they may 
overthrow Astyages. All things therefore are 
ready. Only whatever thou doest thou shouldest 
do quickly." 

When Cyrus had read these words he took 
counsel with himself how he miofht best cause 
the Persians to revolt. And having considered 
the matter, he did thus. He wrote in a roll 
what things he would ; and then, having called 
an assembly of the Persians, opened the roll 
before them all, and read from it that Astyages 



THE STORY OF KING CYRUS. 87 



had made him commander of the Persians. 
And when he had read these words he said, 
" Hearken now, ye Persians ; come on the 
morrow, each man with a reaping-hook." And 
on the morrow when they came, each man with 
his reaping-hook, to a certain place in the land 
of Persia which was covered with thorns and 
briers, he said to them, " Clear ye me this place 
of these thorns by sunset," and the place was of 
eighteen or, it may be, twenty furlongs each way. 
So the Persians cleared the place as they had 
been commanded. Then Cyrus said to them, 
" Come again to me to-morrow, but come 
ready for a feast;" and he prepared a great feast 
for the whole army of the Persians, with flesh of 
goats, and sheep, and oxen, and good store of 
wine, and all manner of victual, the best that 
could be provided. And when the Persians 
were come on the morrow, he made them sit 
down in a meadow that he had, and feasted 
them there. And when their meal was ended, 
Cyrus asked them, saying, " Tell me, on which 
day did ye fare the better, yesterday or to-day ?" 
And they answered, " We cannot compare the 
two, for yesterday we had toil and trouble, but 



STORIES OF THE EAST. 



to-day all good things." Then did Cyrus 
unfold to them his whole counsel, saying, " Men 
of Persia, the matter stands thus. If ye will 
hearken to me ye shall have all these good 
things and others also without number, and 
that without any need of toiling as slaves. 
But if ye will not hearken, ye shall have 
labours without end, such as ye had yesterday. 
Hearken therefore to me, and be free. For I 
am sure that I was born by the will of the Gods 
to bring these things to pass ; and as for you, I 
hold that you are in no wise worse than the 
Medes, whether as regards valour in battle or 
as regards other things. I bid you, therefore, 
rebel this day against King Astyages." 

Cyrus spake these words, and the Persians 
hearkened unto him right willingly, taking him 
for their leader, for they had long since borne it 
ill that they should be servants to the Medes. 
And when Astyages heard of these things he sent ' 
a messenger to Cyrus commanding him that he 
should come to him. But Cyrus said to the 
man, " Say to Astyages, ' Cyrus will come to 
thee sooner than thou wouldest have him.' " 
When Astyages heard these words, he gathered 



THE STORY OF KING CYRUS. 89 

together all the host of the Medes, and made 
Harpagus captain of the host, forgetting all the 
wrong that he had done to him, for it was as if 
the Gods had smitten him with madness. Now 
it came to pass that when the battle was joined, 
some of the Medes fought with all their might 
against the Persians, knowing nothing of the 
counsels of Harpagus, and some deserted to the 
Persians, but the greater part turned their backs 
and fled. But Astyages, when he knew that 
the host had fled before the Persians in shameful 
fashion, yet lost not hope, but sent to Cyrus, 
threatening him and saying, " Thou shalt not 
go unpunished." Then he gathered together all 
the Medes that were left in the city, both the 
old men and the lads, and led them out against 
the Persians and fought with them. But the 
Medes fled a second time before the Persians, 
and Astyages was taken captive. And when 
he was brought into the camp, Harpagus stood 
before him, rejoicing over him and reviling him, 
saying, " See now, thou didst give me the flesh 
of my son for meat, and lo ! thou hast gained 
for thyself slavery in the place of a kingdom." 
Then Astyages looked upon him and said, 



9 o STORIES OF THE EAST. 

"Sayest thou then that this deed of Cyrus is 
of thy doing ? " " Yea/' said Harpagus, " for I 
devised the thing for him, and rightly claim it for 
my own." Then Astyages made answer, "Surely 
then thou art more foolish and wicked than all 
other men. More foolish art thou, for if thou 
hast done this thing of thyself and so mightest 
have made thyself a King, why didst thou suffer 
the power to go to another ? And more wicked, 
seeing that thou hast brought all the nation of 
the Medes into slavery, bearing anger against 
me for the little matter of a feast. For if thou 
must needs give the kingdom to another rather 
than keep it for thyself, yet surely thou hadst 
done well to give it to a Mede rather than to a 
Persian. But now thou hast brought it about 
that the Medes, though they were innocent in 
this matter, having been masters aforetime are 
now servants, and that the Persians, having 
been before our servants, are now our masters." 
Thus was Astyages driven from his kingdom, 
having reigned thirty and five years, and by 
reason of his tyranny having brought great loss 
to the whole nation of the Medes. Howbeit he 
suffered nothing at the hands of Cyrus, but lived 
in peace till the day of his death. 



THE STORY OF KING CYRUS. 91 

Of the Persians, of their customs and manner 
of life, there are some things worthy to be told. 
They have no images of the Gods, nor temples, 
nor altars, charging with folly them that use 
such things, for they hold that the Gods have 
not the form of men. Their custom is to go up 
to the tops of the highest mountains that they 
know, and there do sacrifice to Zeus ; but by 
Zeus is signified the whole circle of the heavens. 
Also they do sacrifice to the sun, and to the 
moon, and to the earth, and to fire, and to water, 
and to the winds. And when they do sacrifice, 
it is not lawful for any man to pray for good 
things for himself only, but he prays for them 
for the whole nation of the Persians and for 
the King, remembering that he is one of the 
Persians, and that so he prayeth for himself. 
They take great account of birthdays, every 
man making a feast, according to his means, on 
his own day. When they have great matters 
in hand they deliberate upon them, first drink- 
ing themselves drunk. But on the morrow, the 
master of the house where they are layeth before 
them, being then sober, that which they have 
resolved, and if it still please them, then it is 



92 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

confirmed. And all things on which thev have 
deliberated being" sober, they consider again 
when they are drunk. 

Their children they teach three things only, 
beginning when they are five years old and 
continuing until twenty years ; and the things 
are these — to ride on horseback, and to shoot 
with the bow, and to speak the truth. 

They hold that the most shameful thing that 
a man can do is to lie ; and next to this that he 
should owe money to another ; for they say that 
the man that oweth money to another cannot 
choose but lie. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE CITY OF BABYLON. CYRUS TAKETH IT. 

When Cyrus had overthrown the kingdom of 
the Lydians, and had conquered also such 
countries and cities as had appertained thereto, 
he made war in the next place against the 
Assyrians. Now the Assyrians have many 
other great and famous cities, but the greatest 
and famous of all is Babylon, for there, when 
Nineveh was destroyed, was set up the palace 
of the King. The city of Babylon is built 
foursquare, and the measure of each side is 
one hundred and twenty furlongs. Round 
about the walls there is a ditch, very deep and 
broad and full of water ; and after the ditch 
there is a wall, of which the breadth is seventy 
and five feet, and the height three hundred 
feet. On the top of the wall, at the sides 
thereof, are built houses of one story, being 
so much apart that a chariot with four horses 



94 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

may turn in the space. And in the wall there 
are a hundred gates, of brass all of them, with 
posts and lintels of the same. The city is 
divided into two parts, between which floweth 
the river. Now the name of this river is 
Euphrates, and it cometh out of the land of 
Armenia, and floweth into the Red Sea. 

On either side the wall is pushed forward 
into the river; also along each bank of the 
river there runneth a wall of baked brick. 
The city is built with houses of three stories 
or four, these being ordered in straight streets 
that cross each other. And wheresoever a 
street goeth down to the river there are gates 
of brass in the walls of brick that is by the 
riverside, gates for each street. Also over and 
above the outer wall of the city there is an 
inner wall, of wellnigh equal strength, but in 
thickness not so great. 

In each part of the city there was a great 
building, of which one was the King's palace 
and the other the temple of Belus. This temple 
hath brazen gates, and is foursquare, being two 
furlongs every way. In the midst there is a 
tower which is solid throughout and of* the 



BABYLON. 



95 



bigness of a furlong each way ; and on this 
tower is built another tower, and yet another 
upon this, and so forth, seven in all. Round 
about these towers are built stairs ; and for one 
who hath climbed halfway a landing-place and 
chairs where he may rest ; and in the topmost 
tower there is a temple very splendidly fur- 
nished, and a couch and a table thereby, but no 
imao-e. 

There is another temple below, and in it a 
statue of Zeus sitting, and before it a table of 
gold ; the throne and the steps are also of gold ; 
and the weight of all is ei^ht hundred talents. 
Outside is a golden altar, on which a thousand 
talents of frankincense were wont to be burnt 
at the great feast. Here also was a great 
statue of gold, twelve cubits high, and solid 
throughout. This statue Darius was minded to 
take, but dared not ; yet did Xerxes take it, 
and slew the priest that would have hindered 
him. 

Of this city of Babylon there have been 
many kings, and two queens. Of these queens 
the first made for the river great banks, for 
before her day it used to overflow all the plain 



96 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

of Babylon. The name of this Queen was 
Semiramis, and the name of the second Queen 
was Nitetis. This Nitetis, seeing that the 
kingdom of the Medes increased daily, and that 
they were not content with what they had, but 
sought to subdue others, and had conquered 
many cities, among which was Nineveh, 
devised a defence against them. For first she 
caused that the river Euphrates, which before 
had flowed in a straight course, should now fetch 
a compass ; and this she did by making for it 
new channels. And now one that saileth on this 
river cometh thrice in three days to the self- 
same village, and the name of this village is 
Ardericca. Also she made a great lake, digging 
it out by the side of the river ; and the circuit 
of this lake is four hundred and twenty fur- 
longs. Now both these things she did for the 
same end, that the stream of the river might be 
the slower and the voyage to Babylon a voyage 
of many windings, and that when the voyage 
on the river should be ended, then there should 
be the voyage on the lake. All this was done 
on that side of the city which looketh to- 
wards the country of the Medes; for she would 



BABYLON. 97 



not that the Medes should come into her 
dominion and learn her affairs. Also she did 
this great work for the city. There being two 
parts, and the river flowing between them, the 
citizens had been wont in days of former 
kings to cross, if they had need, from the one 
part to the other in boats; and this was a toil 
to them. She caused her servants to cut very 
large stones, and when these were finished, 
she commanded that thev should turn the river 
into the lake which she had dug. And while 
this was a-filling, the old stream being now 
dry, she embanked with brick the side of 
the river, and the ways also that led thereto 
from the gates. But in the middle part of the 
city she built a bridge with the stones which 
she had caused to be cut, binding them to- 
gether with iron and lead. On this bridge 
there were laid, so long as it was day, four- 
cornered timbers, on the which the men of 
Babylon crossed the bridge. But at nightfall 
the timbers were taken aw T ay, so that the people 
of the city might not steal from each other. 
And when this was finished she brought the 
river again into his channel. 



93 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

This queen devised this deceit. She made for 
herself a tomb over that one of the gates by which 
the people were chiefly wont to go forth. On 
this tomb she wrote certain words of which the 
significance was this: "If one of the Kings 

AFTER ME LACK MONEY, LET HIM OPEN THIS TOMB 
AND TAKE WHAT HE WILL. BUT LET HIM NOT OPEN 
IT UNLESS HE NEED, FOR IT WILL BE THE WORSE 

for him." This tomb no man would meddle 
with till Darius came to the kingdom. Now it 
seemed a grievous thing to Darius that no man 
should use the gate, and that money should be 
there, and that it should call men to take it, 
yet should not be taken. For no one used the 
gate because there was a dead body above his 
head as he went out. Wherefore he opened 
the tomb ; but having opened it, found no 
money therein, but only the dead body of the 
queen and these words, saying, " If thou 

WERE NOT INSATIATE OF MONEY AND A LOVER 
OF GAIN, THOU PIADST NOT OPENED THE RESTING- 
PLACE OF THE DEAD." 

Now the king against whom Cyrus made 
war was the son of this woman, and his name 
was Labynetus ; and this had been the name 



BABYLON. 99 



of his father also. Now when the Great Kine, 
the King of the Persians, marcheth any whither 
he is well provided with food and cattle, and 
also with water from the river Choaspes, which 
fioweth by the city of Susa ; for the King 
drinketh not of any other river save this only. 
And many four-wheeled waggons, drawn by 
mules, follow the army whithersoever it goeth, 
bearing vessels of silver wherein is the water, 
having been first boiled. But when Cyrus 
came in his march to the river Gyndes (this river 
fioweth into the Tigris) there befell this thing. 
While he was seeking to cross the river, which 
is of such bigness that ships can sail thereon, 
one of the white horses which are sacred would 
have crossed the river by swimming, and in so 
doing was drowned. Then Cyrus was very 
wroth with the river that had done him this 
wrong ; and sware that he would make it so 
weak that a woman should be able to cross it 
without wetting: her knee. When he had 
sworn this oath he divided his army into two 
parts, and commanded each part that it should 
dig long trenches by the side of the river — 
one part working on each side — and the 



ioo STORIES OF THE EAST. 

number of the trenches should be one hundred 
and eighty for each part. And as there was 
a ereat multitude of men the work was accom- 
plished in no great space of time ; nevertheless 
they consumed the whole summer in this work. 
So the river Gyndes was made to flow into 
these trenches, three hundred and sixty in all. 
And when this was done, and the winter was 
over, together with the next spring Cyrus led 
his army to Babylon. And when he came near 
to the city, the Babylonians came forth to meet 
him ; and when the battle was joined, the 
Babylonians fled before Cyrus, and were shut 
up in their city. Now they had gathered provi- 
sions for many years, for they knew that Cyrus 
was a man of war, and sought to conquer all the 
nations round about. So, therefore, their walls 
also being very strong, they took no account of 
the siege ; but Cyrus was much troubled, for 
even after a long time he had done nothing in 
the matter of taking the city. And whether he 
himself devised the device, or another devised 
it for him, cannot be said ; but this he did. He 
divided his army into two portions ; and of 
these he set one above the city where the river 



BABYLON. ioi 



floweth into it, and the other he set below it 
where the river floweth out. To these he gave 

o 

commandment that when they should see the 
river so shallow that a man could cross it they 
should enter the city by it. And when he had 
thus ordered things, he himself departed with 
such of the army as were of no account for war, 
and when he came to the lake which Nitetis, 
Queen of Babylon, had made by the riverside, 
then did he thus. He made a great trench, 
and turned the river into the lake, which in 
those days was a marsh only and not filled 
with water. And when this had been done 
the river became shallow, so that a man might 
cross it, and the Persians to whom the com- 
mandment had been given, perceiving what 
had happened, and that the water now came 
but up to the middle of a man's thigh, entered 
the city of Babylon by way of the river. Now 
\{ the men of Babylon had known beforehand 
or perceived the thing that Cyrus was doing, 
then all these Persians had perished miserably, 
for they would have shut all the gates leading 
down to the river, and would have gone up 
themselves on to the walls that were built along 

o 



io2 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

the banks of the river, and so would have had 
the Persians as it were in a fish-trap. But in 
truth the Persians came upon them unawares. 
Now the bigness of the city was such that they 
who dwelt in the middle parts knew not that 
the outside parts had been taken ; but played 
and danced and delighted themselves, till indeed 
they were made to know it in such fashion as 
they liked not. 

This land of Babylon is a very good land. 
For while all the rest of Asia nourisheth the 
Great King and his army for eight months, this 
alone nourisheth him for four months. And 
there cometh to him that holdeth this province 
under the King, a measure of silver containing 
twelve gallons day by day. Rain falleth not 
often, but the plain is watered by the river, as 
is also the land of Egypt ; and it beareth wheat 
as doth no other country in the whole earth, 
even two hundredfold, and, when the harvest 
is of the best, three hundredfold. 

They have this law about marriage. In 
every village and town they gather together 
such maidens as are of a marriageable age into 
one place, the multitude of men standing in a 



BABYL IN. -.:-- 

circle round about them. Then there standeth 
up a herald in the midst and selleth them, one 
by one ; and the manner of selling them is this. 
First he taketh her that is counted the fair st 
in the whole company, and when she has been 
sold for a great sum f monev. then her that is 
the next in fairness. Then all the wealthy men 
amonof the Babylonians, bein^ minded to marrv. 
contend with each other who shall buy those 
that excel in beauty : but such of the comm 
folk as are minded to marry care not at all for 
beauty, but take the maidens that are less 
comely to look upon, and money with them. 
For when the herald hath finished his selling' of 
the beautiful maidens, then he taketh her that 
is worst fayoured in the company, or, it may be, 
maimed of a limb, and offereth her. And the 
men say for how much money they will take 
her to wife ; and to him that saith the least is 
she given. And the gold that the rich men pay 
for the well-favoured among the maidens, this 
do the poor men receive with the ill-favoured. 
Xor is it lawful for a man to give his daughter 
in marriage to any that he will. 

Another excellent custom have they with 



io4 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

them that are sick. These they carry forth 
from their houses into the market-place ; for 
they have no physicians in their country. Then 
all that come near give their counsel about the 
sick man, if any one hath himself endured such 
disease as the sick man hath, or hath seen any 
other enduring it. And they tell each of them 
in their turn how they were cured of such 
disease, or may have seen others cured. But 
it is not lawful for any to pass by the sick man 
till he shall have made enquiry what his disease 
may be. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

CYRUS MAKETH WAR AGAINST THE MASSAGET^E, 

AND DIETH. 

When Cyrus had conquered the Babylonians 
and taken their city, it came into his heart to 
make war against the Massagetae and to subdue 
them. This is a very great and valiant nation, 
dwelling towards the sunrising, beyond the 
river Araxes. This Araxes is a great river, 
having in it islands that are of the bigness of 
Lesbos. In these islands, which are, they say, 
many in number, there dwell men who eat in 
the summer all manner of roots, but for the 
winter they store up such fruits as they have 
found to be good for food. They have among 
them one tree that beareth fruits of a very 
wonderful kind. The men assemble in com- 
panies and light a fire, and sit round the fire in 
a circle ; then they throw upon this fire of the 
fruit of the tree ; and when they smell the 



106 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

savour of the fruit that is thrown upon the fire, 
they grow drunken with the smell thereof, even 
as the Greeks grow drunken with wine ; and 
more fruit being thrown upon the fire they grow 
yet more drunken, till at the last they come to 
dancing and singing. In the marshes of this 
river where it floweth into the sea — and it flow- 
eth, they say, through forty mouths — there dwell 
men that have fish only for food, eating them 
raw, and for clothing they have the skins of seals. 
Now the cause wherefore Cyrus had it in his 
mind to make war against the Massagetse was 
this : that his spirit was puffed up and exalted 
with many things, as with his birth, from which 
he judged that he was above the measure of a 
man, and with his good luck that had followed 
him in his wars ; for of all the nations against 
whom he had been minded to make war not one 
had been able to escape. Now the ruler of the 
Massagetae in those days was a woman, whose 
husband was dead, and the name of this woman 
was Tomyris. Cyrus therefore sent messengers 
to her, saying that he would fain take her to 
wife. But Tomyris, knowing that he wished 
not for her but for the kingdom of the Massa- 



THE STORY OF KING CYRUS. 107 

getae, denied herself to him. Then Cyrus, when 
he could not prevail by craft, marched to the 
river Araxes, and made war openly against the 
Massagetae, for he began to make bridges of 
ships over the river by which his army might 
be able to cross, and to build also towers for 
defence upon the ships. But while he was 
busying himself with these things, Queen 
Tomyris sent to him, saying, " O King of the 
Medes, cease from doing these things that thou 
art doing ; for thou canst not know whether 
they will be to thy profit. Cease from them 
therefore, and rule thy own people, and be con- 
tent also to see me ruling over my people. Yet, 
as I know that thou wilt not follow this my 
counsel, and that there is nothing that is less to 
thy mind than to be at peace, I offer thee this. 
If thou greatly desirest to make trial of the 
strength of the Massagetae, then cease from 
this thy labour of making bridges across the 
Araxes, and when we have gone back three 
days' march from the river, then take thy army 
across ; or, if thou wouldst rather have it so, 
do thou on thy part go back three days' journey 
from the river, and abide our coming." 



108 STORIES OF THE EAST 

When Cyrus heard this, he called together 
the chief men of the Persians, and laid the whole 
matter before them, enquiring of them which of 
these two things he should rather do. For 
the most part the counsel of the Persians 
agreed together that he should suffer Tomyris 
and her army to enter his country. But Crcesus 
the Lydian, being present in the council, agreed 
not with this opinion, but gave contrary advice, 
saying, " I have said to thee aforetime, O King, 
that from the day when Zeus made thee lord 
over me, I cease not to turn away, if it may be, 
any evil that I may perceive coming upon thy 
house. And, indeed, my own troubles have 
been hard teachers to me. Now, therefore, if 
thou countest thyself to be immortal and the 
army which thou rulest to be immortal also, 
there shall be no need that I should show forth 
my opinion. But if thou knowest thyself to be 
a man only, and thine army to be of men only, 
then consider that there is as it were a wheel 
of the fortunes of men, and that this wheel 
turneth round always, and suffereth not the 
same man to be always in prosperity. Now, 
my opinion is contrary to the opinion of these. 



THE STORY OF KING CYRUS. 109 

If thou sufferest these men to come into thy 

country, there is this peril. If thou fleest before 

them, then thou losest thy whole kingdom. But 

if, on the contrary, thou comest into their country 

and they flee before thee, then thou wilt conquer 

them altogether. Also, it doth not become thee, 

being such an one as Cyrus the son of Cam- 

byses, to give place before a woman. But 

hearken now unto me, and I will tell thee what 

thou shalt do. These MassaQfetae have no 

knowledge of the good things of the Persians. 

Do thou, therefore, kill for these men great 

store of sheep, and cause their flesh to be 

cooked, and furnish a feast for them in our camp. 

Forget not also to fill bowls with wine without 

stint, and to set out all manner of good things. 

Which when thou hast done, leave there in the 

camp that which is of least account in thy 

army, and go back again with that which remains 

to the river. For I am persuaded that these 

men, when they see these good things, will fly 

forthwith upon them, and that we shall find 

occasion to do great things against them." 

Then Cyrus rejected the former counsel, and 
chose the counsel of Crcesus. Wherefore he 



no STORIES OF THE EAST. 

sent a message to Queen Tomyris, that she 
should depart from the river, for that he was 
resolved to cross over into her country. After 
this he called his son Cambyses, to whom also 
he had left the kingdom after him, and com- 
mitted Crcesus into his hands, bidding him 
deal kindly with him and honour him, if he 
should not prosper in battle with the Massagetae. 
And when he had sent these two away into the 
land of Persia, he himself crossed the river 
Araxes with his army. 

In the night after he had crossed the river 
he saw a vision in his sleep, and the vision 
was this. He saw the eldest of the sons of 
Hystaspes, having wings upon his shoulders, 
with one whereof he shadowed the whole land 
of Asia, and with the other the whole land of 
Europe. Now, the eldest of the sons of Hysta- 
spes, who was of the house of Achaemenes, was 
Darius, being then about twenty years of age ; 
and he had been left in the land of Persia as 
not being of age to go with the host. And 
Cyrus, when he woke from sleep, considered 
with himself what this vision might mean ; and 
because it seemed to him a very great matter, 



THE STOR Y OF A'/AG CYRUS. 1 1 1 

he called Hystaspes, and taking him apart by 
himself, said to him, " Hystaspes, thy son is 
manifestly proved to be laying plots against me 
and my kingdom. And how I know this thing 
thou shalt hear. The Gods have ereat care 
for me, and show me beforehand all things that 
shall come to pass. Now, therefore, in this 
night past I saw a vision in my sleep — even the 
eldest of thy sons with wings upon his shoulders, 
with one whereof he shadowed the land of Asia, 
and with the other the land of Europe. Seeing 
then that I have had this vision, it must needs 
be that he is laying plots against me. Do 
thou, therefore, depart with all speed into the 
land of Persia, and see that when I shall have 
subdued this country and am returned, he shall 
be brought to the trial." This said Cyrus 
thinking that Darius was laying plots against 
him. But in very truth the Gods showed him 
by this vision that he should die in that land, 
and that his kingdom should be given to Darius. 
Then Hystaspes made answer, " My lord the 
King, the Gods forbid that there should be 
any Persian who would plot against thee, and 
if such there be, may he be brought to nought. 



ii2 STORIES OF THE EAST 



For thou hast made the Persians free who were 
slaves before, and to be the rulers of all men in 
place of being ruled by others. If, therefore, 
it be signified by this vision that my son is 
plotting against thee, be sure that I will deliver 
him to thee to do with him as thou wilt." 
When Hystaspes had said this, he crossed the 
Araxes and went his way into the land of 
Persia, that he might keep Darius his son 
against King Cyrus should return. And when 
Cyrus had gone a day's march from the river 
Araxes, he did according to the word of Croesus. 
For he returned with the better part of his 
army to the river and left the worse part behind. 
Then there came a third part of the army of 
the Massagetae, and fought with those that 
Cyrus had left behind, and slew them. And 
when they had vanquished their enemies, seeing 
the feast that had been prepared, they sat clown 
and feasted ; and having filled themselves with 
food and wine, they lay down to sleep. But 
while they slept the Persians came upon them, 
and slew many of them, and took yet more of 
them alive. And among them that they took 
was the captain of the host of the Massagetse, 



THE STORY OF KING CYRUS. 113 

beinof a son of Oueen Tomyris, whose name 
was Spargapises. And when the queen knew 
what had befallen the army and her son also, 
she sent unto Cyrus, saying, " Be not puffed up, 
O Cyrus, thou that never canst be satisfied with 
blood, by reason of this thing that thou hast done. 
For thou hast taken of the fruit of the vine, with 
which ye are wont to fill yourselves to madness, 
so that when the wine enters into you, there 
come forth from you all manner of evil words ; 
this, I say, thou hast taken, and with it hast 
prevailed over my son, vanquishing him by 
craft, and not by strength. Now, therefore, I 
give thee this counsel. Give back to me my 
son, and go thy way out of this land unhurt, 
having worked thy will upon the third part of 
the army of the Massagetae. But if thou wilt 
not do according to my words, then I swear by 
the Sun, who is the lord of the Massagetse, that 
though thou canst not be satisfied with blood, 
yet will I satisfy thee." But Cyrus, when this 
message was brought to him, took no heed of 
it. After this, Spargapises, the son of Queen 
Tomyris, when the wine had left him, and 
he knew into what trouble he had come, 

9 



H4 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

made entreaty to Cyrus that he might be loosed 
awhile from his bonds. But so soon as ever he 
was loosed, he slew himself. 

After this Queen Tomyris, seeing that 
Cyrus would not listen to her counsel, gathered 
together all her army, and joined battle with the 
Persians. And of all battles that have ever 
been fought among barbarians was never one 
fiercer than this battle. First they stood apart 
and shot at each other with bows ; and when 
their arrows were spent, they fell upon each 
other with spears and swords, and so fought. 
For a long time they contended against each 
other, and neither the one nor the other would 
give place. But at the last the Massagetae pre- 
vailed over the Persians. And the greater part 
of the army of the Persians perished on that day, 
and Cyrus himself also was slain, having reigned 
twenty and eight years. Then Queen Tomyris, 
having first filled a skin with man's blood, 
commanded that they should search among the 
dead bodies for the body of Cyrus. And when 
they had found it, she cut off his head and 
thrust it into the skin, and scoffed at the dead 
body, saying, " Thou didst take my son by craft 



THE STOR Y OF KING C YR US. 1 1 5 



when I could have prevailed over thee in battle ; 
and now, as I sware, I will satisfy thee with 
blood." 

Thus Cyrus the son of Cambyses the Persian 
died in the land of the Massagetae, and Cam- 
byses his son reigned in his stead. 



CHAPTER IX. 

OF THE MANNERS OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

There is no country in the whole world that 
hath in it more marvellous things or greater 
works of buildings and the like than hath the 
land of Egypt. And as the heavens in this 
land are such as other men know not — for in the 
upper parts there falls not rain but once in a 
thousand years or more, and in the lower parts 
not often — and the river is different from all other 
rivers in the earth, seeing that it overflows in the 
summer and is at its least in the winter, so also 
do the manners of the Egyptians differ from the 
manners of all other men. For among" them 
the women buy and sell in the market, but the 
men sit at home and spin. And even in this 
matter of spinning they do not as others, for 
others push the shuttle in the loom from below 
upwards, but these men push it from above down- 
wards. Also the men carry burdens on their 



OF THE MANNERS OF THE EGYPTIANS. 117 

heads, but the women carry them on their 
shoulders. And the women pray to none, either 
god or goddess, but the men pray to all. And 
there is no duty laid on a son to succour father 
or mother, if it be not his pleasure to do it, but 
on a daughter there is laid, whether she will or 
no. In the matter of mourning for the dead 
these folk have a strange custom, for they let 
grow the hair upon the head and chin when 
they mourn, but are shaven at other times. 
And whereas other men hold themselves better 
than the beasts, the Egyptians have these in 
great honour, keeping them in their houses, aye, 
and worshipping them. Nor do they eat the 
food of other men, holding it a shame to be fed 
on wheat and barley which others use, and 
eating the grain of millet only ; and the dough 
that it is made of, this they knead, trampling it 
with their feet, but mud and such like things 
they are wont to take up with their hands. About 
garments, their custom is that a man hath two 
but a woman only one ; and in their ships and 
boats they fasten the sheets and ropes to the 
sails from within, whereas other men fasten 
them from without ; also in their books they 



u8 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

write not as others, from left to right, but from 
right to left. 

Now as to the beasts and the honour in 
which the Egyptians hold them, there are many 
strange things to be told. The cow they reckon 
to be sacred to I sis the goddess, who is the same 
that the Greeks call so, fabling her to be a maiden 
whom Here changed into the shape of a heifer. 
Nor will any Egyptian man or woman kiss a 
Greek upon the mouth, knowing that they are 
wont to eat cow's flesh ; neither will they use 
any knife or spit or cauldron of a Greek, nor will 
they eat even of flesh that is lawful to be eaten 
(for they eat of oxen, as I shall presently tell) if 
it be cut with the knife of a Greek. The oxen 
they hold to be sacred to Apis, whom the 
Greeks call Epaphus, saying that he was the 
son of I sis. These they sacrifice, if so be that 
they find them to be clean. And the manner of 
finding whether they be clean or no is this. 
One of the priests that is set to perform this 
office diligently examines the beast, both when 
he stands up and when he lies down, to see 
whether there be any black hairs on him, and 
if there be so much as one, then he is not clean. 



OF THE MANNERS OF THE EGYPTIANS. 119 

Then he looks at the tongue to see if it be with- 
out certain signs, and at the tail, whether the 
hairs be set in due order. And if he find it to 
be altogether clean he twisteth a reed about the 
horns of the beast, and putteth a seal of clay 
upon his forehead. And when they sacrifice it, 
they cut off the head, praying at the same time 
that if any evil thing be about to happen either 
to them that do the sacrifice or to the land of 
Egypt, it may fall rather upon this head. And 
of the body, some parts they burn with fire and 
some they eat. 

Sometimes it comes to pass that there is 
born a bull calf that hath such a colour and 
such marks upon him that this people deem it 
to be the god Apis himself. It is black with a 
foursquare mark of white upon its forehead, and 
on its back the similitude of an eagle, and the 
hair on its tail double, and under its tongue a 
mark like unto a beetle. When such a one is 
born the people put on their best apparel and 
make great rejoicing, saying thatthe god hath 
come down to dwell among them. This thing 
came to pass when King Cambyses of Persia 
was in Egypt. Now it chanced that in thoso 



120 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

days the King was much troubled, because 
the army which he had sent against the men 
of Hammon who dwelt in the desert had 
wholly perished, a mighty wind from the 
south blowing mountains of sand upon it. And 
he was in great wrath to see the Egyptians 
making merry, for he thought that they did it 
in scorn of him and his troubles. And first he 
sent for the chief men of Memphis, for that 
was the city in which he chanced to be dwelling, 
and enquired of them why the people rejoiced; 
and when they said that the god had appeared 
among them after many years, and that the 
people rejoiced therefore according to custom, 
he answered in great anger that they had lied 
to him, and ordered them to be put to death as 
having said a thing manifestly false. After- 
wards he sent for the priests, and when they 
answered him after the same manner, he said 
that he would not that a god should come to 
the land that could be handled and he not 
see him, and bade them bring him. So the 
priests brought the calf Apis, and the King, 
when he saw him, drew a dagger that he had 
and smote the beast on the thigh, saying to 



OF THE MANNERS OF THE EGYPTIANS. 121 

the priests, "Ye knaves! be these your gods, 
creatures that have flesh and blood, and can be 
hurt with steel ? Truly such a god is worthy 
of the Egyptians. But surely ye shall not go 
unpunished." And he bade the executioners 
scourge them to death, and to slay any Egyp- 
tian that they should find making merry. So 
the feast of the Egyptians had an end, and the 
calf that had been wounded lay for a while 
grievously sick in the temple, and so died. But 
when it was dead the priests buried it, taking 
good care that the matter should not come to 
the ears of the Kino-. 

Commonly when an ox dieth they bury it 
in the suburbs of the city with one of his horns, 
or it may be both, above the ground that they 
may know the place. And after a certain time 
when they judge the flesh to have altogether 
rotted, they take up the bones and put them into 
a ship, which cometh for that purpose from a 
certain island in the lower part of the river, 
where there is a temple of the goddess Aphro- 
dite. In this place are gathered together the 
bones of all the oxen that die, and here are 
they buried. In like manner do they bring 



122 STORIES OF THE EAST 

other beasts that die, for none of them do they 
kill, save only in sacrifice. 

As to sacrifice, indeed, they follow different 
customs in different places. Thus they that 
are of the region of Thebes sacrifice goats, 
but will have nothing to do with sheep ; and, 
on the other hand, they that are of the region 
of Mende sacrifice sheep, but hold goats to be 
unclean. 

The crocodile some of the Egyptians hold 
to be sacred, but not all. And in every city 
where they hold it, as in Thebes and in the 
cities round about the lake Moeris, they keep 
one crocodile to which they do special honour. 
This they train to be tame to the hand, and 
they put earrings of glass and of gold into his 
ears, and bracelets on his fore feet, and give it 
a portion of food day by day, and make offer- 
ings to it, and when it dies they embalm it and 
bury it in the sacred sepulchres. But the people 
that dwell in the city of Elephantine count them 
not to be sacred at all, but slay them and eat 
them. 

Of hunting them there are many ways, but 
the most noteworthy is this. The hunter 



OF THE MANNERS OF THE EGYPTIANS. 123 

fastens a chine of swine's flesh upon a hook, 
and casts it into the middle of the river. After 
this he takes a live pig and beats it by the 
banks of the river. And the crocodile, hearing 
the crying of the pig, makes for the place, and 
chancing on the hook with the swine's flesh 
swallows it down. Then the men drag it to 
land. But so soon as ever it touches the land 
the hunter daubeth the eye of the beast with 
mud. If he do this, then will he easily do what 
he will with it ; but if not, he hath much 
trouble. 

The river-horse, which is a great beast, as 
big as the biggest of oxen, having an ox's hoof, 
only cloven, and the mane and tail and voice of 
a horse, the people of one region hold to be 
sacred, but to the rest it is common. There are 
water snakes in the river ; these they all hold 
sacred, and among fish one that has great scales, 
and also the eel. 

Among birds are sacred the fox goose (which 
they so call because it has a hole in the earth, 
such as the foxes have), and the ibis, which the 
Egyptians honour because it fights against the 
winged serpents. For they say that in the 



124 STORIES OF THE EAST 

spring-time a great multitude of winged ser- 
pents cometh out of the land of Arabia seeking 
to pass into Egypt, and that the ibis meet 
them in a narrow way which there is between 
Arabia and Egypt, and will not let them pass. 
But the most sacred of all birds is the phoenix. 

X 

This bird men do not often see, for it cometh, 
they say, into the land of Egypt but once in 
five hundred years. And the manner of his 
coming is this, according to the report of the 
country, though, indeed, it is a thing hard to be 
believed. He bringeth his father, covered 
round about with myrrh, to the temple of the 
Sun, and burieth him in the temple of the Sun. 
And that he may do this, he first maketh a great 
ball of myrrh, as big as he can carry, making 
trial of what he can do in carrying. And when 
he hath finished the trial and can carry such 
weight as is needed, he holloweth out the ball, 
and putteth his father within, and addeth thereto 
such myrrh as he has taken from within. And 
the weight, they say, is the same as it was 
before. The feathers of this bird are in part 
golden and in part red : and it hath the shape 
and bigness of an ea^le. 



OF THE MANNERS OF THE EGYPTIANS. 125 

Of the beasts that are held sacred there are 
keepers appointed, both men and women ; and 
this office the son inheriteth from his father and 
the daughter from her mother. When a man 
maketh a vow to the god to whom a beast is 
counted to belong, and the time is come that he 
should pay it. he shaves the heads of his chil- 
dren, or the half, or, it may be, the third part of 
their heads, according to the letter of his vow. 
Then he weigheth the hair that hath been cut 
off against silver, and payeth the silver to the 
keeper of the beast, who buyeth food for it, 
fish or the like. Thus are the beasts nourished. 
If a man kill a beast that is sacred, he must 
suffer for it. If he kill it of set purpose, then 
he is put to death, but if he kill it unknowingly, 
then he payeth a fine, such as the priests may 
choose to lay upon him. But if a man kill an 
ibis or a hawk, whether he do it of set purpose 
or no, he must die. 

The cat the Egyptians hold in great honour. 
Of this beast there is a very marvellous thing 
to be told. When it chanceth that a house is 
burning a strange madness cometh upon the 
cats, for they are very desirous to leap into the 



126 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

fire. And the Egyptians set guards round 
about the place, if by any means they may keep 
the cats from their purpose ; nor do they care 
to quench the fire, if so be that they may 
do this : but the cats, nevertheless, making their 
way through them, or leaping over them, have 
their will, and so perish. Over this the 
Egyptians make great lamentation. If a cat 
die in the course of nature, all that are in that 
house shave their eyebrows only, but all the 
dwellers in a house wherein a dog shall die 
shave their heads and whole bodies. The cats, 
when they are dead, they carry away for burial 
to the city of Bubastis, but the dogs they bury 
each in the city where he dies, only in the holy 
sepulchres. Other beasts and birds they bury 
elsewhere, according to the nature of each. 
Bears, of which there are few only, and wolves 
(and the wolves in this country are but little 
bigger than foxes) they bury where they may 
chance to find them. 

Swine the Egyptians hold to be altogether 
abominable. If a man so much as touch one 
of these beasts in passing, he goeth straightway 
to the river, and dippeth himself therein and 



OF THE MANNERS OF THE EGYPTIANS. 127 

his garments also. No swineherd is permitted 
to enter the temple of any god, nor will any 
man give his daughter in marriage to a swine- 
herd, or take a swineherd's daughter to wife ; 
but they marry and are given in marriage 
among themselves only. Notwithstanding, on 
a certain day, to wit, the day of the full moon, 
and to certain gods, that is, to the Moon and to 
Bacchus, they offer swine in sacrifice. And 
when they offer them to the Moon, after they 
have burnt certain parts with fire, that which 
remains of the flesh they eat. But on no other 
day would they so much as taste it. And the 
poor, such as for lack of means cannot buy the 
beast itself, make swine of dough. These they 
cook and offer in sacrifice, and so eat. But 
the swine which they offer in sacrifice to 
Bacchus they eat not, but give them to the 
swineherds from whom they may have bought 
them. 

For food the Egyptians have bread made of 
millet, as has been said before. They have 
wine made of barley, for the vine grow T eth not 
in their land. Of birds they eat doves and 
pigeons, and such small kinds as there are in 



128 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

the country. Of fish they have a great store, 
not a few in the river, but yet more in lakes 
and ponds, where they nourish them. Of such 
fish as pass from the lakes into the sea 
there is told this thing, that such as be 
caught passing from the lake into the sea are 
found to have their heads rubbed upon the left 
side, and such as are caught passing from the 
sea to the lake have their heads rubbed upon 
the right. And the cause is this : that when 
they swim downwards they keep themselves 
very close to the left shore, and when they 
swim upwards they keep themselves very close 
to the right shore, not ceasing to touch it, lest 
haply through the Mow of the stream they 
should miss the way, and so be lost. There 
is also another strange thine of the fish in 

o o 

Egypt. So soon as the Nile begins to rise, the 
hollows of the earth and the pools that are by the 
side of the river begin to fill, for the water runs 
through to them from the river. And so soon 
as they are full they are seen to abound with 
multitudes of small fishes. Whereof the cause 
seemeth to be this : in the year before the fish 
that have been in these pools and hollows 



OF THE MANNERS OF THE EGYPTIANS. 129 

run out with the water as the river falls, but 
leave their eggs in the mud. And these, when 
the season of the flood comes round again, 
speedily become fishes. 

Such of the Egyptians as dwell in the 
marshes of the river have also for food the 
seed of the water-lilies, which grow abundantly 
when the river overfloweth the plains. This 
seed is like to the seed of a poppy, and they 
make of it loaves which they bake with fire, 
having first dried it in the sun. Also the root 
of this water-lily (which they call the lotus) may 
be eaten, being round, and of the bigness of an 
apple. Other lilies there are growing in the 
river, like to roses, which have a fruit very like 
to a wasp's comb, and in it many seeds of the 
bigness of an olive, which the men eat both 
green and dry. Also these marsh folk gather 
the reeds, and use the upper part for other things, 
as for the making of paper and the like, but 
the lower part, as much as a cubit's length 
from the ground, they eat. Those who will 
have this dish at its best cook it in an oven red- 
hot, and so eat it. For oil olive these people 
use that which they press out of the castor- 

10 



130 STORIES OF THE EAST 

berry, of which they plant great store by the 
riverside. It serveth for lamps as oil-olive, 
but hath an evil smell. 

It must be told how they escape from the 
biting of the gnats, of which there are great 
multitudes. For they that dwell in the upper 
country find help in their towers, into which 
they climb of a night, and so sleep in peace. 
But the marsh folk do not so, but every man 
has his cast-net, and with this he catches fish by 
day and hangs it over his bed by night. And 
if he sleep wrapped in his cloak or in a hair 
garment, the gnats bite through it, but through 
the net they bite not. 

The rich men among the Egyptians have this 
custom at their feasts. When the meal is ended 
there is carried round to every one of the guests 
an image made of wood, shapen and painted 
to the likeness of a man. This image is of a 
cubit, or may be, two cubits in length, and is 
laid in a coffin. And he that beareth it saith to 
each man, " Look thou at this, and drink, and 
rejoice thy heart, for when thou diest thou shalt 
be such as this image." 

The dead they embalm ; and the manner of 



OF THE MANNERS OF THE EGYPTIANS. 131 

this embalming differeth according as the man 
or woman that is dead is rich or poor or between 
the two. But if a man be torn by a crocodile 
or die by drowning in the river, then, whether 
he be an Egyptian born or a stranger in the 
land, must he be embalmed with all the costliest 
spices that may be, and buried in the sacred 
sepulchres. Neither may any man touch him, 
whether kinsman or friend, but the priests of 
the Nile only. These handle him with all 
reverence as being more than a mortal man, and 
so bury him. 

The Egyptians have among them a great 
multitude of physicians. But each man is a 
physician of one part of the body only ; for one 
healeth diseases of the eyes, and another dis- 
eases of the head, and a third diseases of the 
teeth. 

Priests are held in great honour among them. 
For indeed there is no nation in the whole world 
that is more careful to pay due reverence to the 
Gods and to all holy things. These priests 
shave their bodies every third day. They wear 
garments of linen and sandals of reed from the 
river, and other garments or sandals it is not 



132 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

lawful for them to have. They bathe them- 
selves in water twice every day, and twice every 
night ; and other things of the like kind without 
end do they observe. Nevertheless, they are 
by no means in evil case. There is no need for 
them to spend aught of their own possessions, 
for there is brought to them day by day for their 
food oreat store of the flesh of oxen and of 
geese. For the Egyptians keep with them 
great flocks of these birds, holding them to be 
sacred. Also they have a provision of wine, 
and this is not of barley, such as men commonly 
drink in this country, but wine of grapes. But 
it is not lawful for them to eat of any kind of 
fish, and as for beans, they may not so much 
as look at them ; and indeed none of the 
Egyptians will eat of the bean. 

To each god there are many priests, and of 
these one is called the high priest. When a 
priest dieth, his son taketh his office. 

All the Egyptians worship not the same 
gods, but Isis and Osiris they all worship ; and 
this Osiris is the same as he whom the Greeks 
call Bacchus or Dionysus ; and his feast is in all 
things like to that which the Greeks keep to 




'P. 
U 

o 
fa. 

O 

o 

o 



OF THE MANNERS OF THE EGYPTIANS. 133 

their gods, only that there is no acting of plays. 
As for Isis the Greeks call her Demeter, that is 
to say, being interpreted, Mother Earth. 

Hercules the most of them worship, but not 
all. But this Hercules is not the same as he of 
whom the Greeks talk as being a hero and the 
son of Amphitryon of Argos, but an ancient god, 
and one of the twelve. For the Egyptians say 
that there were in the beginning eight gods, 
and that of these eight were born other twelve ; 
and that it is seventeen thousand years reckoned 
to the days of King Amasis, of whom mention 
will be made hereafter, since these twelve were 
born. Also in Tyre of Phoenicia there is a temple 
of Hercules, very noble, in which are many 
gifts and offerings, and especially two pillars, 
the one of pure gold and the other of emerald, 
which shines mightily by night. The priests of 
this temple affirm that it was built at the very 
beginning, together with the city itself; and 
that as for the city, there were two thousand 
years and more from its building to the days of 
King Amasis. Neither doth this agree with 
what the Greeks say of Hercules ; and as for 
what they tell of his doings in Egypt, it is a vain 



134 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

thing and altogether incredible. For they say 
that coming to Egypt he was taken of a great 
multitude of the people, and crowned with 
garlands, and led to the altar of Zeus, to the 
intent that he might be sacrificed ; and that he 
submitted himself to them till he came to the 
altar itself, but that being there, he turned upon 
them and slew them all. Now, it is not lawful 
for the Egyptians to sacrifice any animal save 
only sheep and oxen and calves and geese. 
How, then, could they sacrifice a man ? And 
how could Hercules, being but one, and a mortal 
man — for so the Greeks count him to have been 
— slay tens of thousands ? 

Ares they worship in other cities and in 
Papremis, in which last place they follow this 
custom. The image of the god, which abides 
in a small shrine of wood covered over with 
gold, they carry out on the day before the 
feast from the temple to another of the holy 
places. And on the day of the feast, when the 
sun is now drawing near to his setting, they put 
the image and its shrine on a waggon with 
four wheels, and drag him towards the temple. 
Now in the front of the temple there is ranged 




HANHART HTH . 



OSIRIS 



OF THE MANNERS OF THE EGYPTIANS. 135 

a multitude of men, having all of them clubs of 
wood in their hands. These seek to hinder 
the priests that drag the waggon and the 
image from entering the temple. And there 
is ranged upon the other side of the court 
another multitude, of a thousand men and 
more, having also clubs of wood in their hands. 
These busy themselves with the saying of 
prayers. But when they see that the god is 
hindered from entering his temple, they come 
to his help and the help of his priests. Upon 
this there ariseth a very fierce battle, the men 
striking each other with their clubs of wood, 
and breaking each others' heads. And it is 
to be believed that many die of their wounds, 
yet the Egyptians affirm that no man so dieth. 
Let so much then be said about the Egyptians 
and their customs and manner of life, and the 
gods whom they worship. 



1 36 STORIES OF THE EAST. 



CHAPTER X. 

OF CERTAIN KINGS OF EGYPT. 

Of all the kings of Egypt there has been none 
greater than Sesostris. This man made ships 
of war, and sailing down the Red Sea con- 
quered the nations that dwelt upon its shores. 
And this he did till he could sail no further 
by reason of the shallows. And in the land of 
each nation that he conquered he set up a 
pillar with an inscription with his own name, 
speaking honourably of such as had fought 
bravely against him, and with scorn of such 
as had not quitted themselves like men. And 
thus he passed through the whole land of Asia, 
and from Asia he crossed over into Europe. 
And when he had subdued this also as far as 
Scythia and Thrace, he turned back to Egypt, 
and coming to the river Phasis, which floweth 
into the Black Sea by the way of the east, he 
left there a certain part of his army ; but 




o 

u 

> 
< 



OF CERTAIN KINGS OF EGYPT. 137 

whether he did this to take possession of that 
country, or that the men were wearied with 
their wanderings, cannot be known. Coming 
back to Egypt, he brought with him a great 
multitude of men of all the nations whom he 
had conquered. And when he came to Daphnae, 
his brother, whom he had made king in his 
stead, called him and his wife and children to 
a banquet. But while Sesostris sat at meat, 
the brother piled wood about the banqueting- 
house and set fire to it. Then Sesostris took 
counsel with his wife how they might be saved. 
And she said that he should slay two out of 
the number of his sons, for he had six in all, 
and using them as a bridge should so pass over 
the fire. This he did and escaped, he and his 
wife and four of his sons. After this, having 
first punished his brother, he appointed work 
to the multitude of men whom he had brought 
with him, to drag great blocks of stone for the 
building of temples, and to dig canals. For 
before the days of Sesostris horses and chariots 
could pass over the land of Egypt ; but after 
him they could not, though indeed it is a plain 
country, so divided is it by canals. This the 



138 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

King did that he might bring the water of the 
river to such towns as lie far from it. Sesostris 
also divided the land of Egypt in equal plots 
among the inhabitants. These paid dues for 
their land year by year, and so the King had 
his revenue. And if the river carried away 
any part of a man's plot, he told the matter 
to the King. Then the King would send men 
to measure the plot ; and according as it was 
found to be less, the less was demanded of the 
man. And thus was the art of geometry, that 
is to say, the measuring of land, first known in 
Egypt. 

Many years after Sesostris there reigned 
King Proteus. In his days, as the Egyptians 
say, came Paris to Egypt, bringing with him 
Queen Helen, whom he had carried off from 
Menelatis her husband. For the Egyptian story 
of Paris is this, being wholly different from that 
which Homer hath in his Iliad. When Paris 
had sailed from Sparta, and was now in the 
the midst of the ./Egean Sea, a storm arose, and 
carried him to the land of Egypt. Being arrived 
here he disembarked at a place which was 
called the " Saltpans," near to the mouth of 



OF CERTAIN KINGS OF EGYPT. 139 

the Nile that is called Canopus. Here there 
stood on the shore, and, indeed, stands to this 
day, a temple of Hercules. And the custom of 
the temple is, that if a slave runs away from his 
master, and has certain marks made upon him, 
he belongeth to the god, and his master may 
not lay hand upon him. So the slaves of Paris 
left him and fled to the temple, and that they 
might do him damage with the King, they told the 
whole story of Queen Helen to the priest of the 
temple, and to the captain of the river, a certain 
Thonis. This Thonis sent to the King, saying, 
" There hath come to this land a certain 
stranger of Troy, who hath done a wicked 
deed in the land of Greece, for from one who 
showed him hospitality he hath taken away his 
wife, and great riches also with her. Wilt thou 
then that we let him depart unharmed, or that 
we take from him that which he hath ? " King 
Proteus made answer, " I will that ye bring this 
man who hath so wronged his host before me, 
that I may hear what he shall say." So Thonis 
took Paris and Helen, and the riches that they 
had with them, and the slaves also. Then the 
King asked Paris who he was and whence he 



140 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

had come. And Paris answered that he was a 
man of Troy, and that he sailed from Sparta. 
But when the King would know whence he had 
taken Queen Helen, he was confused, speaking 
things that were not true. But when the King 
had heard from the slaves the whole story, he 
gave sentence in this manner : " I am steadfastly 
purposed not to put to death any stranger who 
may be carried out of his course by stormy 
winds to this country ; otherwise I had surely 
avenged this fault on thee. For indeed 
thou art the wickedest of men, that hast so 
wronged thy host, stealing from him his wife, 
and also robbing him of much treasure. Thee 
indeed I slay not, for I would not slay any 
stranger, but I suffer thee not to have this 
woman or this treasure. These will I keep for 
the host himself, till he shall himself come 
and take them, if he will. But as to thee and 
thy comrades, I bid you depart from my land 
within three days, and if not, ye shall be dealt 
with as enemies." 

Now that Homer had heard this tale of the 
coming of Paris into Egypt may be taken for 
certain, being manifest from this, that in the 



OF CERTAIN KINGS OF EGYPT. 141 

book of " The Valiant Deeds of Diomed " he 
speaketh thus : " There were robes of many 
colours, the work of women of Sidon, which 
the noble Paris brought thence in the voyage 
whereon he carried with him Queen Helen, 
sailing over the broad sea." Also in the "Wan- 
derings of Ulysses," he saith : " Such mar- 
vellous medicine had the daughter of Zeus ; 
good medicine which Polydamna of Egypt, the 
wife of Thonis, gave to her, for there the 
land bringeth forth medicines in abundance, and 
some are good and some are evil." 

But in the meantime the Greeks had gathered 
together a great army and sailed to the land of 
Troy, that they might avenge themselves on 
him that had done this wrong. These, having 
disembarked and pitched their camp, sent 
ambassadors to Troy and King Menelaiis him- 
self with them, who, when they had come within 
the walls, demanded of the men of the city both 
Queen Helen and the treasure which Paris had 
carried off. Also they asked that satisfaction 
should be given for this wrong. To this the 
men of Troy made answer that they had neither 
Queen Helen nor the treasure in their city, but 



142 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

that these were in Egypt, and that it was un- 
reasonable to demand from them things that 
King Proteus of Egypt had in his possession. 
And this same answer they made both first and 
last, both as men commonly say such things 
and also confirming it with an oath. But the 
Greeks thought they were mocked by the men 
of Troy. Wherefore they besieged the city 
until they took it. But when they had taken it 
and found it was indeed as the men of Troy had 
said, and that Queen Helen was not there, they 
sent Menelaus to Egypt to King Proteus. So 
Menelalis departed to Egypt, and sailed up the 
river as far as the city of Memphis. Then 
Proteus courteously entreated him, giving him 
back Queen Helen unharmed and all the 
treasure with her. Notwithstanding Menelaus 
dealt not with the Egyptians as they had dealt 
with him. For when he would have departed 
to his own country, and was hindered by 
contrary winds, and this for many days, he 
devised a most wicked thing. He took two 
children of men of the land, and offered them 
as a burnt- offering. And when this became 
noised abroad, and there was much indignation 



OF CERTAIN KINGS OF EGYPT. 143 

against him, he departed in great haste, marching 
towards the land of Libya. This is the story 
which the priests of Egypt tell of Menelalis, 
and Helen, and Paris. And as for that which 
concerneth the city of Troy, they say that they 
heard it from Kin or Menelaiis himself. 

When Proteus was dead Rhampsinitus 
reigned in his stead. This Rhampsinitus had 
great store of silver, such as none of the kings 
after him were able to surpass or even to 
approach. Wishing to keep these riches in 
safety he would have a treasure-house built, 
whereof one side was in the outer wall of his 
palace. But the builder of this treasure-house 
devised means whereby he should himself have 
access to it, the means being this : he caused 
that there should be one stone in the outer wall 
which could be easily taken from its place by 
two men, or even by one. So the treasure- 
house was built, and the King laid up his silver 
therein. Now it came to pass after a time that 
the builder fell sick, and being about to die 
called his sons unto him — for the man had two 
sons — and set forth to them how, not without 
forethought for them, that they might have 



H4 STORIES OF THE EAST 

stores of wealth without end, he had built the 
King's treasure-house. Then he made the 
whole matter plain to them about the taking out 
of the stone, and gave them the measurements 
that they might know its place. At the same 
time he said, " If ye keep this secret, ye shall 
be stewards after a fashion of the Kind's 
treasure." After this the man died, and his 
sons made no long delay in setting to work, but 
came by night to the King's palace, and finding 
the stone in the building, moved it easily from 
its place, and carried off great store of money. 
But when the King chanced to open the 
treasury-house he marvelled to see that the 
silver was lower in the jars where it was kept. 
Nor had he whom to blame, for the seals upon 
the door were not broken, and the door was 
safely shut. But when the thing happened 
again, and he found, opening the treasure-house 
twice or thrice, that the store of silver was 
diminished — for the thieves ceased not to plunder 
it — he contrived this thing. He caused men to 
make nets for hunting, and these he put above 
the jars in which the silver was stored. Then 
the thieves made their way into the treasure- 



OF CERTAIN KINGS OF EGYPT. 145 

house in the same manner as before ; but when 
they came near to the jars, one of them fell into 
the net that was set for a trap, and was caught. 
And so soon as the man knew in what an evil 
plight he was, he called his brother to take 
counsel with him. To whom he said, " Come 
hither to me as quickly as thou canst, and cut 
off my head, lest haply some one should know 
me and thou perish with me." The man 
thought that his brother had spoken wisely ; 
therefore he did this thing, and cut off the head 
of his brother, and departed, carrying off the 
head, having first fitted the stone in its place. 

The next day at dawn King Rhampsinitus, 
coming into his treasure-house, was beyond 
measure astonished to see in the trap a body 
that had not a head, but the house remaining 
as before, without any place to be seen where a 
man might come in or go out. Being, there- 
fore, much perplexed, he commanded that they 
should hang the dead body of the thief from 
the wall, and over this body he set guards, 
commanding that if they should see any one 
weeping or bewailing himself near the place, 
they should lay hold of the man and bring him 

11 



146 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

before him. Now when the mother of the dead 
man knew that his body was hung up she was 
sore troubled, and spake to the son that was 
yet left to her, commanding him that he should 
devise means as best he could by which he 
might carry away the body of his brother. And 
she affirmed that if he heeded her not, she 
would go straightway to the King and declare 
the whole matter, how he had stolen the 
treasure. Now as the heart of the woman was 
wholly set upon this thing, and the man for all 
that he could say could not prevail over her to 
change her purpose, he contrived this way of 
doing it. He harnessed asses, and laid on 
them skins which he had filled with wine, 
and drave them past the palace. And when 
he was come to the place where the guards 
watched the dead body, he loosed the necks of 
some of the skins. And when the wine ran 
out abundantly, he made much ado, beating his 
head with his fist, and crying out aloud, as 
though he knew not to which of the asses he 
should first turn. But when the guards saw the 
wine flow out, they ran into the road, holding 
pitchers in their hands, thinking to collect some- 



OF CERTAIN KINGS OF EGYPT. 147 

what of it, and so profit by the chance. And at 
the first the man made as if he were angry, and 
reviled them ; but when they comforted him, he 
seemed to be persuaded and to abate his wrath. 
And after a while he drove his asses out of the 
road as if he would have set their burdens in 
order. So the guards and he fell to talking and 
laughing together, and after a while he gave 
them one of the skins of wine. Whereupon 
the men lay down as they were, and drank, and 
would have him bear them company and drink 
with them. Then the man seemed to be per- 
suaded, and sat down with them ; and in time, 
all being very friendly and merry together, the 
man gave them another skin, till at the last they 
had drunk so much that they were wholly over- 
come, and lay down to sleep in the place. But 
when the night was now far spent he loosed the 
body of his brother from the chain wherein it 
was hung, and for scorn shaved the right cheeks 
of the guards, and so, laying the body upon the 
asses, carried it home. Thus did he fulfil that 
which his mother had commanded him. 

But when the King heard that the body ot 
the thief had been stolen, he had great wrath. 



i 4 8 STORIES OF THE EAST. 



But being resolved that he would by some 
means find out the man who had contrived these 
things, he devised this device. He proclaimed 
that he would give his daughter in marriage to 
that man, though he were of the very lowest of 
the people, who should have done a thing more 
witty and wicked than any other. So many 
came wishing to have the King's daughter to 
wife, and told what they had done. And at 
last came the thief, for he would not that the 
King should seem in any way to have outwitted 
him. And when he was come into the chamber 
where the King's daughter sat, and she asked 
him the thine which she had asked of the 
others, he made answer that the wickedest 
thing that he had done in his life was this, that 
he had cut off his brother's head when he had 
been caught in a trap in the King's treasure- 
house, but that the wittiest thing was that he 
had made the King's guards drunk with wine, 
and so stolen the body of his brother. Now, 
when the King's daughter heard these things, 
she stretched forth her hand, thinking to hold 
him fast, for so it had been commanded her to 
do. But the man had cut off the arm from a 



OF CERTAIN KINGS OF EGYPT. 149 

body that was newly dead, and put the arm 
under his cloak, making as if it were his own. 
So the King's daughter laid hold of the hand of 
the dead body, but the thief left it with her, 
and fled forth by the door. But when they 
told the King what had befallen, he marvelled 
beyond measure at the man, so bold was he 
and so ready of conceit. Wherefore he sent 
messengers throughout all the towns in his 
kingdom, saying, that if the man who had done 
these things would come forth and show him- 
self, he should have free pardon and great 
rewards to boot, and also that the King would 
oqve him his daughter in marriage. And the 
thief believed that which the Kin^ had said, 
and came forward and showed himself. Where- 
upon the King did as he had promised, for he 
said, " The Egyptians surpass all other men in 
wisdom, but this man surpasseth the Egyp- 
tians." 

Of this King Rhampsinitus they also tell that 
being yet alive he went down to the regions 
of the dead, and played at dice with Demeter, 
who, they say, is Queen of those parts, and 
that he sometimes won and sometimes lost, 



150 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

and at the last came back to the earth having a 
napkin woven with gold, which the goddess 
had given him for a gift. 

Of this journey of Rhampsinitus the Egyp- 
tians have yet, they say, this remembrance. 
On a certain day in the year the priests weave 
a mantle and bind the eyes of one of their com- 
pany with a fillet and take him, having the 
mantle upon him, to the road that leads to 
the temple of Demeter, and thus leave him, 
and themselves return. And they say that the 
priest, having his eyes thus blinded, is led by 
two wolves to the temple of Demeter, which is 
distant from the city about the space of two 
miles and a half, and that also the wolves lead 
him back from the temple to the place where 
he was set by his fellows. 



CHAPTER XL 

OF CERTAIN OTHER KINGS OF EGYPT. 

After Rhampsinitus there reigned a certain 
Cheops ; and this king did very wickedly, for- 
bidding the people to do sacrifice to the Gods, 
and. making them labour on certain works which 
he had set in hand. For it was this Cheops 
that built the greatest of the pyramids. First 
he made a causeway, five furlongs long and ten 
fathoms wide, and in height where it is highest 
eight fathoms. This causeway was for the 
carrying of the stones. And these stones were 
cut from quarries in the Arabian hills, and 
being drawn to the river were carried across by 
men appointed for that purpose. And after- 
wards yet other companies of men drew them 
to the hills that are on the Libyan side. The 
number of those that worked was one hundred 
thousand men, and when they had laboured for 
three months there came another hundred 



152 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

thousand in their room. The causeway was 
ten years in building and the pyramid twenty. 
And when it was finished there was written an 
inscription on it, saying how much had been 
spent on radishes, and onions, and garlick for 
them that built it, and the sum was sixteen 
hundred talents of silver. How much then 
must have been the cost of the tools of iron 
that were used in the work, and of the food and 
clothing of the men ! This Cheops reigned 
fifty years, and after him Cephrenes, his brother, 
reigned fifty years and six months, and behaved 
himself in the same wicked way, oppressing the 
people and forbidding to worship the Gods. 
This Cephrenes also built a pyramid for himself, 
but it was not equal to the pyramid of his 
brother. 

And when Cephrenes was dead, there reigned 
the son of King Cheops, Mycerinus by name. 
This man walked not in the ways of his father, 
but opened the temples, and eased the people, 
who were now sorely afflicted by their burdens, 
that they might go about their own business and 
do sacrifice to the Gods. Also he gave more 
righteous judgment in all matters than any of 



OF CERTAIN KINGS OF EGYPT. 153 

the kings of Egypt before him. And not only 
did he judge righteously, but if any man, his 
cause having been tried, was nevertheless not 
satisfied, he would give him of his own sub- 
stance, even to the full of his desire. Never- 
theless to this Mycerinus, though he dealt gently 
with his people and was just in all his ways, 
there happened great calamities. For first of 
all his daughter died, being his only child. 
For her, wishing to bury her as none other had 
ever been buried, he contrived a tomb after 
this fashion. He made the image of a heifer, 
of wood and hollow, and gilded it over. In 
this he buried his daughter, and this was not 
put into the earth but kept in the temple. And 
one day in every year they carry it out into the 
light of day, for they say that the daughter of 
Mycerinus, when she lay dying, entreated of 
her father that she might see the sun once in 
every year. And after the death of his 
daughter there befell him this second trouble. 
There came to him an oracle from the city of 
Buto that he should live six years only, and die 
in the seventh. Then was the King very 
wroth, and sent to the god, reproaching him 



154 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

with these words : u My father and my uncle 
shut the temples, and kept not the Gods in 
remembrance, and oppressed the people, yet did 
the Gods give them long life. Andlo! because 
I am righteous, I must die in my youth." But 
the oracle answered him again, saying, " Thou 
diest before thy time because thou doest that 
which thou shouldest not do. For the will of 
the Gods is that Egypt should be afflicted for 
one hundred and fifty years. Now the two kings 
that were before thee knew this thing, but thou 
knewest it not." When King Mycerinus heard 
it, knowing that a sentence that should not be 
changed had gone out against him, he did this. 
He gave himself up to feasting and all manner of 
delights, and ceased not either day or night. And 
that the night might be unto him as the day, 
he made many lamps, and lighted them so soon 
as darkness fell upon the earth. And this he 
did, going from place to place among the woods 
and wheresoever he heard that there were the 
pleasantest resorts. Now the reason for which 
he did this was, that he might show the oracle 
to have spoken falsely. For this had said that 
he should live six years only, but he said to 



OF CERTAIN KINGS OF EGYPT. 155 

himself, " If I live not the days only but the 
nights also, then shall my years be not six but 
twelve." This Mycerinus also built a pyramid, 
but smaller by far than the pyramid of his father. 

After Rhampsinitus came King Asychis. In 
his days there was so great poverty in Egypt 
that the King made a law that a man might 
borrow, giving as security the dead body of 
his father. And if a man paid not the debt, 
then it should not be lawful to bury him in the 
tomb of his fathers, or in any tomb whatsoever ; 
and that none of those who were begotten of 
him should be so buried. This King, wishing 
to surpass all the kings that had been before 
him, built a pyramid of brick, with these words 
written upon it : " Despise me not, when thou 
lookest at the pyramids of stone, for I surpass 
these, so much as Zeus surpasseth the other 
gods. For the King built me thus. When 
men put poles into the lake, the mud that stuck 
to the poles they gathered together, and made 
bricks thereof. So was I built." 

After Asychis there reigned a blind man, by 
name Anysis. In his days Sabacon, King of 
the Ethiopians, came into Egypt with a great 



156 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

army, and subdued it, and reigned over it for 
the space of fifty years. But Anysis, the blind 
King, fled into the marshes, and there made for 
himself an island of earth and ashes, rising above 
the waters. For it was so that when one of the 
Egyptians came to him with food — and this they 
did without the knowledge of Sabacon — he 
brought also a gift of earth and ashes. So the 
island was made. And at the end of fifty years 
Sabacon dreamed a dream. He saw in his 
dream a man standing over him and counselling 
him to gather together all the priests that were 
in Egypt and cut them asunder. Then King 
Sabacon judged that the interpretation of the 
dream was this : that doing: some wickedness in 
holy things he should suffer punishment either 
from god or man. Therefore he knew that the 
time was come when he should not reign any 
more over the land of Egypt. And, indeed, 
when he was yet in Ethiopia the oracles which 
the Ethiopians use had told him that he should 
reign over Egypt fifty years. And now, the 
time being fulfilled, and the dream troubling 
him, he departed again of his own accord into 
the land of Ethiopia. 



OF CERTAIN KINGS OF EGYPT. 157 

Next unto Anysis there reigned Sethon, who 
was a priest of the god Hephaestus. This 
King held the fighting men of Egypt in no 
esteem, as thinking that he had no need of them, 
and, over and above other things, he took away 
from them the lands which the kings before 
him had given them. After this it befell that 
Sanacharibis, King of Arabia and Assyria, came 
against him with a great army ; and the fighting 
men of the Egyptians would not come to his 
help. Wherefore, Sethon, the priest, being in 
a great strait, came into the temple and wept 
before the image, showing his trouble. And as 
he w T ept he dreamed a dream. He saw the 
god standing over him, and the £od bade him 

o 0*0 

be of good heart, for that he should suffer no 
harm from the army of the Arabians, for that 
he himself would send them that should help 
him. Then the King, trusting in these words, 
took with him such of the Egyptians as were 
willing to follow him, and pitched his camp in 
Pelusium. Now of fiorhtinef men he had not 
one, but hucksters only and handicraftsmen, 
and such as are found in the market-place. 
And when the two armies were encamped over 



1 5 8 STORIES OF THE EAST 



against one another, there came a great multi- 
tude of field mice into the camp of the Arabians, 
and devoured their quivers, and the strings 
of their bows, and the handles also of their 
shields, so that they fled before the Egyptians, 
being without arms, and many of them were 
slain. For this reason the image of this King 
stands in the temple of Hephaestus, having a 
mouse in his hand, and this inscription : " Let 

ALL MEN LOOK ON ME, AND LEARN TO REVER- 
ENCE the Gods." 

When Sethon was dead, the Egyptians set 
up twelve Kings, for without Kings they could 
not endure to live, dividing the whole land into 
twelve parts. These made marriages among 
themselves, and established it for a law, that none 
should seek to have more than another, nor do 
any harm to another, but that they should live 
in all peace and friendship. Now it had been 
declared to the twelve Kings when they were 
first established in their kingdoms, that whoso- 
ever of them should pour out a libation from a 
cup of brass should reign over the whole land 
of Egypt. And it came to pass that the Kings, 
having for a long time dealt righteously one 




tc*i# tilt 



< <** 



.-4V 



-wr 



S*J"^jr-\ >L'>vp 



*<=*< 



* & 35 






^J" 








^ - 







~m' if* — ' — , v ,c" "~ i ~ i«mr 
If l-iv ;: -^' 



-*,••'£ 






V. 




... * 



f V v 



ajMgtaMM 



usSes* 



160 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

in his heart, but they took from him the most of 
his power, and banished him into the marshes, 
and commanded that he should not come forth 
from the marshes into any part of the land of 
Egypt. Then Psammetichus, thinking that the 
eleven Kings had dealt unrighteously with him, 
bethought him how he might best avenge him- 
self on them. Wherefore he sent to the city 
of Buto to the oracle of Latona, for this oracle 
the Egyptians hold to be the most truth-speak- 
ing of all the oracles in their land. And the 
oracle answered him with these words : " Thou 
shalt have vengeance when there come men of 
brass from the sea." But Psammetichus could 
by no means believe that men of brass should 
come to him as helpers. Notwithstanding, after 
a while it so chanced that certain men of Ionia 
and Caria, sailing about to get such plunder as 
they might light upon, came to the land of 
Egypt, and disembarked from their ships. 
These men were clad in armour of brass, and 
one of the Egyptians seeing them went with all 
haste to Psammetichus, where he dwelt in the 
marshes, and told him that men of brass had 
come from the sea, and were plundering the 



OF CER TA IN KINGS OF EG I r P T. 1 6 1 

land, for never before had they seen men clad in 
such armour. But when Psammetichus heard 
it, he perceived that the oracle was fulfilled. 
Wherefore he sent to the men of Ionia and 
Caria, and made a league of friendship with 
them, and promising them many and great 
rewards, sought to persuade them to be on his 
side. And having persuaded them, he gathered 
together also such of the Egyptians as favoured 
him, and using these strangers as helpers, so 
subdued the eleven Kin°fs. And when he had 
conquered the whole land of Egypt, he gave to 
these men of Caria and Ionia places wherein 
they might dwell. And these places were over 
against each other, the Nile being between them, 
and the name of them was the Camps. Also he 
fulfilled to them all the other promises which 
he had made. Besides, he put with them certain 
children of the Egyptians who should learn the 
Greek tongue ; and from them that so learnt it 
came the interpreters that are in the land of 
Egypt. This place which they call the Camps is 
not far from the sea, on that mouth of the Nile 
which they call the Pelusian; and the men of 
Ionia and Caria dwelt therein for many years 

] 2 



162 STORIES OF THE EAST 

till King Amasis, of whom we shall speak here- 
after, took them thence, and removed them to 
Memphis, where he made of them a body-guard 
for himself against the Egyptians. This Psam- 
metichus reigned fifty and three years. And 
of these fifty and three years he was twenty 
and nine besieging Azotus, which is a great city 
in the region of Syria, until he took it. Nor 
was there ever a city which held out so long 
being besieged as did this city of Azotus. 

The son of this Psammetichus was Neco. 
King Neco was he who sought to make the 
canal from the Great Sea into the Red Sea, 
the same that Darius the Persian made again 
after him. The length of the canal is a four 
days' sail ; and as for its breadth, two three- 
banked ships of war, being rowed with oars, 
may pass therein. This canal is filled with 
water of the Nile. There died in the digging 
of this canal, in the days of King Neco, one 
hundred and twenty thousand men. But Neco 
finished it not, but ceased in the midst of his 
digging, because of an oracle which hindered 
him, saying, "That which thou doest thou doest 
for the barbarians." Now the Egyptians call 



OF CERTAIN KINGS OF EGYPT. 163 



all men barbarians that speak not the same 
tongue with themselves. But Neco when he 
had ceased from digging the canal turned his 
thoughts to battles and wars. And he made 
ships of war, some to sail on the Great Sea, 
and others to sail on the Red Sea. These he 
used when he had need. Also he had an 
army by land, and fought with the Syrians at 
Megiddo, and when the Syrians fled before 
him, he took Cadytis, which is a great city 
in those parts. And the garment which he 
chanced to wear when he took it he offered up 
to Apollo at Branchidae of the Milesians. When 
Neco had reigned sixteen years he died, and 
Psammis his son reigned in his stead. 

In the days of King Psammis there came 
certain men of Elis into Egypt. These men 
boasted that no men ordered anything more 
nobly and righteously than they themselves 
ordered the games in Olympia, and that the 
Egyptians, for all that they were the wisest of 
men, could not find out aught by which this 
ordering might be made better. But when 
King Psammis heard how these men of Elis 
were come talking in this fashion, he as- 



>4 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

sembled those that were counted wisest among 

the Egyptians. Then the Egyptians came 

together, and enquired of the men of Elis all 

mat it was the custom for them to do in the 

matter of these games. And the men of Elis 

told them everything in order, and said that 

t'ley were come to Egypt to learn whether 

anything could be added to their ordinances. 

Then the wise men of Egypt took counsel 

; ogether, and asked the men of Elis, " Do 

\ our own countrymen contend in these games ? " 

And when the men of Elis made answer that 

ic was lawful for their citizens, as indeed for all 

the Greeks, to contend therein, the Egyptians 

implied that in making their ordinances they 

had altogether failed of what was just and 

right : " For it cannot be," said they, " but 

that in this matter you will prefer your own 

citizen when he contendeth in these games, and 

< o wrong to the stranger. If then ye would 

< >rder them righteously, and are come to Egypt 
that ye may learn how to do this thing, make 
this law for your games, that strangers only 
shall contend therein." This is the answer 
which the Egyptians made to the men of Elis. 



OF CER TAIN KINGS OF EG YPT. 1 1 .; 

Psammis reio-ned six years, and in the 
seventh year he went out to war with the 
Ethiopians ; but died on the way, and Apries 
his son reigned in his stead. This Apries 
prospered more than all the kings of Egypt 
before him save only Psammetichus, his grand- 
father. He made war with the Sidonians an \ 
vanquished them ; also he sent his fleet againsi 
the fleet of the men of Tyre, who are mighty 
sailors, and had the upper hand. Thus he 
prospered for twenty and five years. But when 
it was ordained that he should be afflicted, ev 1 
came upon him in this way. He made war 
with the men of Cyrene, and was grievously 
worsted, losing the greater part of his arm)-. 
And the Egyptians were wroth with him, and 
rebelled against him, for they said that he had 
lost these men of set purpose in order that his 
kingdom might be the more firmly established 
over the remnant of the people. For which 
reason such as returned alive from the war 
and the friends of them that had died rebelled 
against him. When Apries heard of the matter 
he sent Amasis, who was one of his captains, 
to speak with the rebels and persuade their. 



1 66 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

So Amasis went to them ; but as he spake 
with them, persuading them, a certain man 
came behind him and put a helmet on his head, 
crying out that he had crowned him king. 
And the thing pleased Amasis, for so soon as 
the rebels had made him king, he made ready 
to march against Apries. But Apries, when he 
knew it, sent a certain Patarbemis, who was 
one of those that waited upon him continually, 
a man noble and of good repute, and com- 
manded that he take Amasis alive and bring 
him. But when Patarbemis bade Amasis re- 
turn with him to the King, the man did but 
scoff at him in an unseemly fashion. Not- 
withstanding, Patarbemis was urgent with him 
that he should obey the King's commandment 
and come. Whereupon Amasis made answer, 
" Verily, I have long since purposed to come ; 
nor shall the King have the ordering of my 
coming, for I will bring many others also with 
me." And Patarbemis understood the matter ; 
seeing also that Amasis was making ready to 
march, he departed in all haste, for he would 
have the King know what had befallen as 
speedily as might be. But when Apries saw 



OF CERTAIN KINGS OF EGYPT. 167 

that he returned and brought not Amasis 
with him, he took no thought, but falling 
forthwith into a great passion of anger, 
bade that they should cut off the man's nose 
and ears. But when the Egyptians that had 
held with the King saw what had been done, 
how a man of good repute beyond all others 
had been shamefully entreated, they also re- 
belled against the King, and followed Amasis. 
Then the King armed his hired soldiers, for he 
had hired soldiers about him, men of Ionia 
and Caria, thirty thousand in all, and marched 
against the Egyptians. And the two armies 
were set in order against each other, near to 
the city of Momemphis. 

And when the battle was joined, the hired 
soldiers quitted themselves bravely, but never- 
theless were worsted, for the Egyptians were 
more numerous by many times. Thus did 
Apries fall from his kingdom, from the which he 
had thought that not even the Gods could cast 
him down, so did he trust in his strength. 
And being thus vanquished in battle, he was 
taken alive and brought to the city of Sai's, to 
his own house, that was now the palace of King 



i68 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

Amasis. And for awhile Amasis kept him in 
the palace, treating him with all honour. But 
when the Egyptians murmured against him, 
saying that he did wrong having such respect to 
one that was his enemy and the enemy of the 
people, then the King gave up Apries to the 
Egyptians, and these strangled him. But when 
he was dead the people buried him in the sepul- 
chres of his fathers. These are in the temple of 
Athene, hard by the sanctuary, on the left hand 
of one that entereth the temple. Here also is 
the tomb of Amasis, but further from the sanc- 
tuary, very large and noble, with pillars carved 
into the likeness of palm-trees, and other sump- 
tuous adornments. 

So Amasis reigned over the land of Egypt. 
And at the first the Egyptians despised him 
and held him of small account, because he had 
been one of themselves, and because his house 
was of little repute in the land. But he brought 
them over to himself, not indeed by dealing 
harshly with them, but by his subtlety. He had 
among his possessions — for he was very rich — 
a foot-bath of gold, in which he and his guests 
were wont to wash their feet before they feasted. 



OF CERTAIN KINGS OF EGYPT. 169 

This vessel of gold he brake up, and made 
therefrom an image of a god, and set up this 
image in that place of the city whither men 
most resorted. And all the Egyptians, when 
they heard that an image of gold was set up, 
visited it and worshipped it greatly. And 
when King Amasis knew that they thus wor- 
shipped it, he called them together, and spake 
to them, saying, " See now this image, which 
was of old a footbath and put to unclean uses, 
but now is greatly worshipped by you all. 
Know, therefore, that it is with me as it hath 
been with this gold. For before I was one of 
you, but now I am your King. Therefore must 
you do me such honour as is meet for a King." 
In this manner he brought over the Egyptians 
so that they served him willingly. 

His manner of life was this. He would rise 
very early in the morning, and would do the 
business of his kingdom with much zeal and 
despatch until the time when the market-place 
begins to fill, which is before noonday. But after 
this he would drink and make merry with such 
as sat at talk with him, jesting with them even 
in unseemly fashion. This his friends took 



i 7 o STORIES OF THE EAST. 

very ill, and counselled him that he should 
change his ways, saying, " O King, thou dost 
not well keep thy state and dignity, thus abasing 
thyself to things common and unseemly. Rather 
shouldst thou sit in great state upon thy throne 
throughout the day, and so do the business of 
thy kingdom. So would the Egyptians know 
that they are ruled by a great King, and thou 
wouldst be in better repute. For now thou 
dost not behave thyself like unto a King." To 
them King Amasis made this answer : " They 
that have bows, when they need to use them, 
bend them, but when they need them not, 
loose them. For did they bend them always, 
the bows would be broken. So is it also with 
a man. If he give himself up to work without 
ceasing, and indulge not himself on occasion in 
sport and pastime, it must needs be that mad- 
ness or disease will come upon him unawares. 
And because I know this, I do each thing in 
its season." In these words did King Amasis 
make answer to his friends when they counselled 
him. 

This Amasis, before he came to the kingdom, 
was ever a lover of mirth and jesting, and one 



OF CERTAIN KINGS OF EGYPT. 171 



that cared not to concern himself with serious 
business. And when he had exhausted his 
substance, drinking and making merry, he would 
eo about and steal. Then those from whom he 

o 

had stolen would take him to some oracle, ac- 
cording as one or another might chance to be 
at hand. And often he was judged to be guilty 
by the oracle, and often he was acquitted. 
When therefore he came to the kingdom he 
did this. To such of the gods as had acquitted 
him, saying that he was not a thief, he paid no 
honour, neither sacrificing in their temples nor 
adorning their shrines with gifts, for he thought 
that they were not worthy of respect, having 
lying oracles only= But them that had declared 
him guilty of theft, these he counted to be true 
gods, and to have truth-speaking oracles, and 
held them in great honour. 

There was not one of the gods whom he 
honoured more than Athene, building a gate- 
way for her temple at Sais of stones very large 
and fair, and adorning it also with great statues, 
and with images, of which the forepart was like 
unto a man, and the hinder part unto a lion. 
Of the stones some he brought from the quarries 



172 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

of Memphis and others, the mightiest of all, 
from the island of Elephantine, which is twenty 
and two days' sail from Sa'i's. And of all the 
marvels in this place there is none greater than 
this, a chamber hewn out of a single stone. 
This stone was fetched from Elephantine. 
Three years were they in fetching it, and the 
number of the men that did it was three thou- 
sand, pilots all of them. This chamber is twenty 
and one cubits long, and fourteen broad, and 
eight high. This is the measure of the cham- 
ber from without ; and from within it is nineteen 
cubits or thereabouts, and twelve, and five. This 
chamber is near the entering in of the temple, 
for they never brought it into the temple. And 
the reason why they brought it not in is this, 
that the architect sighed as it came near to the 
gate, thinking that the work had been a griev- 
ously long time in the doing, and being very 
weary of it ; and that Amasis took this thing 
for an omen, and would not suffer them to draw- 
it further. But others say that a certain man 
of those who were moving it with levers was 
killed at this place, and that for this cause it 
was not brought into the temple. 




w 

Eh 

D 

H 
CO 

< 

-J 

< 



o 

o 

o 

3 

q: 

CO 



OF CERTAIN KINGS OF EGYPT. 17; 



In the days of King Amasis the wealth of 
Egypt was greatly increased, for the river gave 
bountifully to the land, and the land gave 
bountifully to them that tilled it ; and the cities 
of Egypt were twenty thousand in all. This 
King made a law for his people, that every 
man should come year by year to the governor 
of his province, and show by what means he 
got his living, and that he who did not so come 
and show that he lived honestly should be 
put to death. Solon took this for one of the 
laws which he gave to the Athenians, borrowing 
it from the Egyptians. And indeed it is a law 
which none can blame. 

This Amasis was a great lover of the Greeks, 
o-ivino- the city of Naucratis to such as wished 
to dwell in the land ; and to such as would not 
dwell in it, but traded in it, coming and going, 
he gave power to build temples and set up 
altars where they would. For in old times it 
had not been permitted to foreigners to trade 
in any place but Naucratis only. Also, when 
the temple of Delphi was burnt, and the Del- 
phians sought help for the building of it, he 
eave them a thousand talents of silver. And 



174 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

he made a league and friendship with the city 
of Cyrene, and married also a woman of Cyrene, 
Ladice by name. And in many of the Greek 
cities he made offerings in the temples. This 
Amasis also subdued Cyprus and made it pay 
tribute, which none of the kings before him 
had done. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE PERSIANS CONQUER EGYPT. 

Cambyses, King of Persia, made war against 
King Amasis, and led a great army into Egypt, 
having with him many from the nations which 
he and his father Cyrus had subdued, and 
especially Greeks, men of Ionia and ^Eolia. 
Now the cause wherefore he made war was this. 
He sent a herald to King Amasis, demanding 
that the King should give him his daughter to 
wife. And this he did by the counsel of a 
certain Egyptian who had a grudge against King 
Amasis. And this grudge the man had because 
the King had chosen him out of all the physi- 
cians of Egypt, taking him away by force from 
his wife and children, to send him to Cyrus, 
King of Persia, for Cyrus had asked of Amasis 
that he should send him a physician of the eyes, 
the most skilful that there was in the land of 
Egypt. For this cause the man would do King 



STORIES OF THE EAST. 

Amasis an injury, and counselled Cambyses 
that he should ask the King's daughter in mar- 
riage. But when the King heard the words 
of the herald he was in a great strait, for it 
troubled him to give the maiden to Cambyses, 
and yet knew not how he should deny her to 
him. fearing his anger, for the Persians were a 
mighty people. Yet he would willingly have 
denied her, for he knew that she would not be a 
chief wile to Cambvses. for such the Kin^s of 
Persia take only from their own people. But 
at the last he devised this device. There was a 
ghter of Apries that had been king before 
him. She only remained alive of the house of 
Apries ; and the maiden was of great stature, 
and iair exceedingly, and her name was Nitetis. 
This Xitetis, King Amasis caused to be 
.rrayed in goodly apparel and ornaments of 
gold, and sent her to Cambyses as if she were 
his own daughter. And it came to pass after a 
time ben Cambyses would call her by her name 
Lhat he said to her. " Daughter of Amasis." 
But when the woman heard these words, she 
answered. "0 my lord the King. Amasis hath 
: I se, and thou knowest it nor. For he 



THE STORY OF KING CAMBYS, 



-'"" 



caused me to be arrayed in royal apparel, and 
sent me to thee as though I were his daughter 
But in truth I was daughter to Apries, whom 
th.s man slew, rebelling against his master." 
AUen Cambyses heard this, he was verv wroth 
with Amasis, and made war upon him. This 
is what the Persians say. 

But the Egyptians say otherwise. For they 
would fain make Cambyses to be one of their 
own nation. Wherefore they affirm that he 
was the son of this same daughter of fyries 
whom she bare to Cyrus. For they say that it 
was Cyrus that sent the herald to King Amasis 
demanding his daughter in marriage. & But tli 
speak not the truth in this matter, and more- 
over know that they speak it not. for the 
Egyptians have perfect knowledge of the cus 
toms of their Persians. Now among the customs 
is this, that no bastard may be king if there 
be a true son, and they hold that the children 
of a woman that is not a Persian, though she 
be a kings daughter, are bastards. But in 
truth Cambyses was the son of one Cassandane 
that was a woman of the royal house of the' 
Persians. Also the Egyptians tell this story 



i 7 8 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

but neither is this to be believed. One of the 
women of Persia, coming to the chamber where 
the wives of King Cyrus were assembled, saw 
this same Cassandane, and her children stand- 
ing by her, being very fair and tall. And when 
she saw them, she fell in great admiration of 
them, and praised their beauty. But Cassan- 
dane said, " Yet though I be the mother of 
these children, Cyrus holdeth me not in honour, 
giving my place to a stranger from Egypt." 
This she said, taking it ill that the King loved 
Nitetis. And when Cambyses, that was the 
elder of the two children, heard these words of 
his mother, he said, " Mother, when I am 
grown to be a man, I will turn Egypt upside 
down for thy sake." When Cambyses said this 
he was ten years old, and the women marvelled 
at the saying. Nevertheless when he was full 
grown and had the kingdom of his father, he 
remembered these words and made war against 
Egypt. 

There is also another thing to be told about 
this matter. Among the hired soldiers of King 
Amasis there was a certain man of the city of 
Halicarnassus, whose name was Phanes. And 



THE STORY OF KING CAMBYSES. 179 

the man was wise in council and valiant also in 
battle. This Phanes, thinking that he had 
suffered some wrong from the King, took ship 
secretly, and fled from the land of Egypt, 
desiring to have speech with Cambyses. But 
as the man was of great account among the 
hired soldiers, and knew all that concerned the 
land of Egypt as did none other, King Amasis 
was exceedingly desirous to take him. There- 
fore he pursued after him, giving the charge of 
the matter to one of his ministers whom he 
judged to be most faithful. And this man, 
sailing in a three-banked ship, pursued after 
him, and caught him in the land of Lycia. 
Nevertheless he brought him not to King 
Amasis, as he would fain have done, for Phanes 
prevailed over him by craft, making the guards 
that should have kept him drunk with wine, 
and so escaping to the Persians. 

And when Cambyses was minded to march 
into Egypt, but knew not how he should do so, 
having to cross a great region that was without 
water, Phanes came to him, and made known to 
him how things stood with King Amasis, and 
also how he might best make his march. And 



1S0 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

his advice was that he should send to the King 
of the Arabians, and ask of him that he should 
give him a safe passage through his country, for 
the only entrance into Egypt is by the desert. 
And this desert is three days' journey across, 
in which whole space there was not so much as 
a drop of water to be found. About this matter 
there is a thing worth telling. Twice every 
year wine is brought into Egypt from every 
part of Greece, and from Phoenicia also ; and 
this wine is in earthen jars. Nevertheless a 
man will not find even one jar in the whole 
land of Egypt. And if he would know why 
this is so, the cause is this. The chief magis- 
trate in each city has a command laid upon 
him to gather all the jars that are to be found 
in his own city, and to cause them to be taken 
to the city of Memphis. And the people of 
Memphis fill them with water and carry them 
to the desert parts of Syria. This is done with 
the jars year after year. But the beginning of 
this custom was with the Persians, who would 
thus provide for themselves an easy passage 
into Egypt; but in the days of King Amasis it 
was not begun, and the land was yet without 



THE STORY OF KING CAMBYSES. 181 



water. So Cambyses listened to the counsel 
of this Phanes of Halicarnassus, and sent mes- 
sengers to the King of the Arabians, asking 
that he might have safe passage through his 
country. This thing the Arabians granted to 
him, and they pledged their faith the one to 
the other. 

There is no nation in the world that keepeth 
faith more righteously than do the Persians. 
And their manner of pledging it is this. When 
two men would make a covenant between them, 
there stands another between the two, who cuts 
with a sharp stone the palm of the hand of each 
close by the longest of the fingers. After this 
he taketh a piece from the garment of each, and 
dippeth the piece in blood, and anoints there- 
with seven stones that lie between them, calling 
in the meantime on Dionysus and Urania. 
After this the man that hath made the covenant 
commendeth him with whom he hath made it, 
whether he be stranger or citizen, to all his 
friends, and these also hold themselves to be 
bound to him. 

Now when the King of the Arabians had 
made a covenant with the messengers that 



182 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

came to him from Cambyses he did this. He 
filled with water a great store of camel skins, 
and loaded the skins on all the live camels that 
he had in his country, and caused these to be 
driven into the desert till the army of Cambyses 
should come. This is the more credible of the 
stories which are told of this matter ; but there 
is another also, of which, though it be less 
credible, mention shall be made. There is a 
great river in Egypt, which men call the Corys, 
and it flows into the Red Sea. They say that 
the King of the Arabians caused them to sew 
together the skins of oxen and of other beasts, 
and so made a great conduit, which reached 
over the whole way from the river Corys to the 
desert, and this is a journey of twelve days. 
Also in the desert he had great cisterns dug to 
receive the water. Of these cisterns, they say 
there were three, and to each its own conduit. 
But before Cambyses came into Egypt, King 
Amasis was dead. Forty and four years had 
he reigned over the land of Egypt, nor in all 
that time had there befallen him any great 
misfortune. And the Egyptians buried him 
in his own sepulchre, even that which he had 



THE STORY OF KING CAMBYSES. 1S3 



made for himself in the temple which he built 
to Athene, as hath been said before. And 
Psammenitus his son reigned in his stead. This 
Psammenitus gathered his army together and 
pitched his camp in Pelusium, awaiting Cam- 
byses. In his days there happened a great 
marvel. There fell rain in Thebes, which thing 
had not been seen before, and hath not been 
since. But in the days of Psammenitus there 
fell rain in small drops. 

It came to pass when the Persians, having 
crossed the desert by help of the King of the 
Arabians, had set their battle in array against 
the Egyptians, that the hired troops of the 
Egyptians, being Greeks, and men of Caria, 
did a very dreadful thing. They were very 
wroth with Phanes because he had brought the 
army of the stranger against Egypt ; wherefore 
they took his children which he had left behind 
him when he fled, and brought them into the 
space between the two armies. After this they 
set up a great bowl, and slew the children, one 
after the other, over the bowl, before the eyes 
of their father. i\nd when they had slain all 
the children they brought water and wine, and 



i84 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

poured them into the bowl, and drank there- 
from all of them. When they had done this 
they joined battle with the Persians. And the 
battle was very fierce, and many were slain on 
either side, but at the last the Egyptians fled 
before the Persians. 

About them that were slain in this battle 
there is told a strange thing by the people of 
the country. The bones of them that were 
slain lie apart, the Persians by themselves, and 
the Egyptians by themselves. Now the skulls 
of the Persians are so thin, that if a man hit 
them only with a pebble he will break them 
easily, but the skulls of the Egyptians so 
strong that scarcely with a great stone will a 
man break through them. And the people of 
the country say that the cause of this difference 
is this that shall be told, and indeed it seems a 
reasonable thing. An Egyptian hath his head 
shaved even from a child, and the bone grows 
thick, the sun beating upon it. But with the 
Persians it is not so, for they have their 
heads covered from childhood, wearing turbans 
and hats. 

Now the Egyptians, when they were worsted 



THE STORY OF KING CAMBYSES. 185 

in the battle, fled without order, and came to 
Memphis, where they shut themselves within 
the walls. Then Cambyses sent up the river a 
ship of Mitylene, having on board a herald, a 
Persian, who should bid the Egyptians sur- 
render themselves. But when the people saw 
the ship come to Memphis, the whole multitude 
of them rushed out of the castle of the city, and 
destroyed the ship, and tare in pieces all the 
men that were therein, and carried back the 
pieces into the castle. Nevertheless, after they 
had been besieged for a while, they surrendered 
themselves. So also did the men of Nubia, 
which borders upon Egypt. This they did 
without fighting, for they were afraid by reason 
of what had befallen Egypt. Also the men of 
Cyrene and the men of Barca, having the same 
fear, did the like. The gifts from Nubia did 
King Cambyses receive with favour, but not 
the gifts of the men of Cyrene. And indeed 
these sent five hundred pounds of silver only, 
which seemed to the King too small a present. 
Wherefore he snatched the money from the 
envoys, and scattered it with his own hand 
amonof the soldier?. 



1 86 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

Now, on the tenth day after that he had 
taken the fort, Cambyses brought Psammenitus, 
King of Egypt, to a place before the city, to 
torment him. And Psammenitus had been 
King for six months and no more. And when 
Cambyses had set him and others of the Egyp- 
tians with him in the place, he made trial what 
manner of spirit he was of, dealing with him in 
this fashion. He clothed his daughter in a 
slave's garments and sent her, carrying a water- 
pot on her head, to fetch water, sending with 
her also other maidens, daughters to the chief 
men of the country. These also were clothed 
in like manner to the King's daughter. And 
when the maidens passed before their fathers 
with much weeping and wailing, then the other 
princes that had daughters among them that 
passed by cried aloud and wept, seeing their 
children in such evil case, but Psammenitus, 
when he looked and saw what was done, bent 
only his eyes upon the earth. And when the 
maidens that bare the water had passed by, 
Cambyses caused to pass before Psammenitus 
his son, with two thousand more of the Egyp- 
tians that had the same age. All of these had 



THE STORY OF KING CAMBYSES. 187 



ropes about their necks and bits in their 
mouths. These were led to execution, that 
they might be an expiation for the men of 
Mitylene, whom the Egyptians in Memphis 
had destroyed together with their ship. For 
the judges of the King had given this sentence, 
that for every man that had died in the ship 
there should die ten of the Egyptians, and these 
of the chief men of the land. Then the King 
saw them pass by, and knew that his own son 
was being led to the place of execution ; but, 
though the other Egyptians that sat about him 
wept" aloud and made much ado, he wept not, 
but did as he had done about his daughter. 
And when these had passed by, it fell out that 
one that had been his companion in past time, 
a man stricken in years, came by, and the man 
had lost all his substance, and had nothing save 
such things as a beggar might have. Being 
then in such case he passed by Psammenitus 
and the other princes of Egypt where they sat 
before the city. And when Psammenitus saw 
him he wept aloud, and smote his head with 
his hand, and called to him that had been his 
companion by name. Now there had been 



1 88 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

guards set about the King, who watched all that 
was done by him, and told it to Cambyses. 
And Cambyses marvelled much at these things, 
and sent a messenger to Psammenitus, saying, 
" Thy master, Cambyses, asks thee this. When 
thou sawest thy daughter in evil case and thy 
son led by to death, thou didst neither cry 
aloud nor weep. Why then hadst thou such 
respect to this beggar, who indeed, for so I 
hear from others, is nothing akin to thee ? " 
To this Psammenitus made answer, " Know, O 
son of Cyrus, that the troubles of my own 
house were greater than that a man could weep 
for them. But for the trouble of my companion 
I could weep, when I saw him, how that his 
grey hairs were brought down from great pros- 
perity to beggary and wretchedness." This 
answer did he make, and all judged it well 
said, and the Egyptians say that King Croesus 
wept to hear it, for Croesus had followed Cam- 
byses into Egypt, and that such of the Persians 
as were present wept also, and that Cambyses 
himself had some compassion, so that he sent 
straightway and commanded that the son of 
Psammenitus should not be slain with the rest 



THE STORY OF KING CAMBYSES. 1S9 

of the youths, and also that they should bring 
the King himself from before the city to his own 
presence. Now the messengers that were sent 
found the young man dead already, for indeed 
he had been slain first of all, but Psammenitus 
himself they brought to Cambyses. Nor after 
this did he suffer aught from the Persians, but 
lived prosperously. And indeed if he had not 
meddled with dangerous matters he might have 
had Egypt to rule over, for the Persians are 
wont to hold the sons of kinofs in oreat honour, 
so that if a king revolt from them, yet they 
give back his kingdom to his children. This 
they have often done even to those from whom 
they have suffered much ; for so they restored 
the kingdom of Inarus the Lybian, who had 
worked them much mischief, to Thannyras, that 
was the son of Inarus. Thus might it have 
been with Psammenitus ; only that he sought 
to draw away the Egyptians from Cambyses, 
but the matter was discovered and came to 
the knowledge of Cambyses, wherefore Psam- 
menitus drank bull's blood, and so died. 

After this Cambyses came from Memphis 
to Sai's. And when he was come to Sais he 



190 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

commanded that they should bring out the dead 
body of Amasis from the sepulchre wherein he 
was buried ; and when this had been done at 
his commandment, he bade them scourge it, and 
pluck out the hair, and prick it with swords, and 
do to it all kinds of dishonour. All this they 
did till they were weary, but the body perished 
not, for that it had been embalmed. And when 
Cambyses saw this, he bade them burn it, so 
commanding a most impious thing, for the 
Persians held that fire is a god. And neither 
they nor the Egyptians make it a custom to 
burn their dead. As for the Persians, they do 
it not for this reason, namely, that they think 
fire to be a god, as hath been said, and count 
it unholy to give to him such a thing as a 
dead corpse for sacrifice. But the Egyptians 
think that fire is a wild beast, and that this 
beast devoureth all that it can lay hold of, and 
that when it has had enough of food it dieth 
with that that fed it. But are not wont to 
eive to wild beasts the bodies of them that 
die ; and indeed that they may not be eaten 
of worms they embalm and so bury them. 
Therefore when Cambyses commanded this 



THE STORY OF KING CAMBYSES. 191 

thing, he did that which pleased neither the 
Persians nor the men of Egypt. 

But the Egyptians say that all these things 
were done not to Amasis but to one of the 
same age whom they took for Amasis, and that 
the Persians thought that what they had done 
to the dead body they had done to Amasis. 
For their story is that Amasis had asked of an 
oracle what should happen to him in years to 
come, and when he heard the things that should 
befall his own body, he took this man, who 
chanced to be newly dead, and buried him in 
the entering in of the sepulchre, and that this 
man was he whom Cambyses commanded them 
to scourge, but that Amasis was buried in 
the back part of the sepulchre. But it is not to 
be believed that these things were done about 
the burying of Amasis, but rather that the 
Egyptians have feigned them. 



192 STORIES OF THE EAST. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

CAMBYSES MAKETH WAR UPON THE NATIONS 
ROUND ABOUT, IS STRICKEN WITH MADNESS, 
AND SO DIETH. 

After this, King Cambyses purposed to make 
war against Carthage, and against the Ham- 
monians, and against the long-lived Ethiopians, 
the same that dwell in Libya, by the South 
Sea. And taking counsel about these things, 
he judged it best to send his ships against 
Carthage, and to choose out of his army those 
that should go against the Hammonians, and, 
as for the long-lived Ethiopians, at the first to 
send spies into their country. These spies were 
to see the Table of the Sun, that is said to be 
in the country of these Ethiopians, whether 
there be any such table, and they were to spy 
out other things also ; but for a pretence they 
were to carry gifts to the King of the Ethiopians. 
Now the Table of the Sun is said to be such as 



THE STORY OF KING CAMBYSES. 193 

shall now be told. There is a meadow before 
the city full of all manner of boiled meats of 
four-footed beasts. On this table, those that 
are appointed to this office set the meats by 
night, and by day any one that will comes and 
takes of the meats. But the people of the 
country say that the earth produces these things 
of her own accord. And when Cambyses was 
purposed to send these spies, he first com- 
manded that there should come to him men 
from the city of Elephantine, of the tribe of the 
Fish-eaters, that knew the tongue of the long- 
lived Ethiopians. And while these men were 
coming, he commanded that the ships should 
sail against Carthage. But the Phoenicians said 
that they would not sail, for that they were 
bound by great oaths to the men of Carthage, 
and that it was a wicked thing for the fathers 
to fight against their own children. (For 
Carthage was built by men that went out from 
the city of Tyre, that is a city of the Phoe- 
nicians.) And the King knew that if the 
Phoenicians would not sail, the rest were of no 
account. Thus did the men of Carthage escape 
when the Persians thought to subdue them. 

14 



194 STORIES OF THE EAST. 



For Cambyses judged it not well to constrain 
che Phoenicians, because they had yielded them- 
selves to him of their own accord, and indeed 
all the ships of the Persians were manned by 
Phoenicians. 

Now, so soon as the Fish-eaters were come 
to Cambyses from the city of Elephantine, he 
sent them to the country of the Ethiopians, 
having first commanded them what they should 
say, and sending also presents by them, a 
purple robe, and a twisted necklace of gold, and 
bracelets of gold, and an alabaster box of oint- 
ment, and a cask of wine of Phoenicia. Now 
these Ethiopians to whom Cambyses sent his 
messengers are said to be taller and fairer than 
all other men. And the laws that they use are 
different from the laws of other men. About 
their kings they have this law, that they choose 
out from among the citizens him whom they 
find to be fairest and of greatest stature, and 
make him their king. To this people, therefore, 
came the Fish-eaters from Cambyses, and having 
audience of the King, gave him their presents, 
and spake, saying, " Cambyses, King of the 
Persians, would gladly be friend and ally to 






--:■-"-, 








A PERSIAN KING 



THE STORY OF KING CAMBYSES. 195 

thee ; for which reason he has sent us to talk 
with thee, and also give thee these gifts, being 
things in which he himself has his chief delight." 
But the King of the Ethiopians knew that as 
spies they were come, and made this answer to 
them : " The King of the Persians hath not sent 
you to me because he desired exceedingly to 
have me for friend and ally, neither have ye 
said the thing that is true, neither is your King 
a just man. For indeed had he been a just 
man, he had not desired to possess any country 
beside his own, nor to enslave them from whom 
he hath suffered no wrong. Now, therefore, give 
ye to him this bow, and speak these words : 
The King- of the Ethiopians giveth this counsel 
to the King of the Persians. When the Persians 
can easily draw this great bow, then let him 
march against the long-lived Ethiopians ; only 
let him gather a very great army ; but till this 
be so, let hi?n give thanks to the Gods that they 
have not put it into the hearts of the sons of 
the Ethiopians to add the lands of others unto 
their own!' And when he had so spoken he 
loosed the bow, and gave it to the messengers. 
After this he took in his hands the purple robe, 



196 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

and enquired what it was, and in what manner 
it was wrought. And when the Fish- eaters had 
told him the truth, that it was of wool and dyed 
with purple, he said, " These men are full of 
deceit, and their garments also are deceitful." 
After this he took in his hand the twisted 
necklace of gold and the bracelets. And when 
the Fish-eaters told him that they were for 
ornaments, he laughed, for he thought them to 
be fetters, and said, " Nay, but we have in our 
country stronger fetters than these." Then again 
he would know about the perfume, and when 
the men had told him of its making, and how 
it was used for anointing, he said according as 
he had about the dye. Last of all he took the 
wine, and would know how it was made. With 
this he was pleased beyond measure. After 
this he enquired of the men what their king had 
for food, and how many were the years of a 
man's life, among the Persians. To this they 
answered that the Kings food was bread, and 
set forth to him how bread was made from 
wheat. As to the years of a man's life, they 
said that eighty was the full number of them. 
To this he made answer: " I marvel not at 



THE STORY OF KING CAMBYSES. 197 

all if your years are so few, when ye have for 
food that which is but as dung. And I doubt 
not that as for the years which ye have, ye 
endure by reason of this most excellent drink." 
And he put his hand upon the cask of wine, 
confessing that in this matter the Ethiopians 
were surpassed by the Persians. Then the 
Fish-eaters enquired of him what was the 
manner of life among the Ethiopians, and to 
what age they commonly came. To this the 
King made answer that the number of their 
years was commonly one hundred and twenty, 
but that some among them over-lived this ; 
and that for food they had boiled meat, and for 
drink milk. When the men marvelled at this, 
the King led them to a fountain, in which, when 
they had washed, they were sleeker than if they 
had been anointed with oil-olive. The smell 
of this fountain was as the smell of violets ; 
and so light was the water of it, as the men 
said, that nothing could float upon it, neither 
wood, nor things that are lighter than wood, 
but all things straightway sank. If this water 
be indeed such as it is said to be, and they 
use it continually, then is there reason enough 



198 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

why they come to such an age. And when 
they had seen the fountain, the King took them 
to the prison, where all the prisoners were 
bound with chains of gold. Among these 
Ethiopians there is nothing that is rarer and 
more precious than bronze. And from the 
prison they went to see what is called the 
Table of the Sun. And last of all they saw 
the sepulchres of the Ethiopians. Now their 
manner of dealing with the dead is this. They 
embalm the body, either in the same way as do 
the Egyptians or in some other; and after- 
wards cover it with gypsum, and this they 
paint with colours, so that it is in all points like 
to the man when he was alive ; and having 
painted it, they put about it a pillar of crystal, 
made hollow. And this crystal they dig from the 
earth in great quantity ; and it is easily worked. 
In the middle of this pillar, therefore, may be 
seen the dead body, nor does it stink at all, or 
have an unseemly appearance, but is to be seen 
in all points like to the man when he was yet 
alive. This pillar the nearest kinsmen of the 
dead keep for a whole year in their house, 
offering before it the first-fruits of all things 



THE STORY OF KING CAMBYSES. 199 

they have, and doing sacrifice to it. And after 
the year is ended, they take it away and put it 
in some place near unto the city. 

When the messengers had seen all these 
wonders they departed again to their homes. 
But Cambyses, when he heard the words that 
they brought back from the King of the Ethio- 
pians, fell into a very vehement rage, and set 
out to march against the Ethiopians, not having 
made for himself any provision of food, and 
not considering with himself that he was about 
to march to the very ends of the earth. But 
he was as one possessed with madness when 
he heard the words of the Fish-eaters, and so 
set forth. The Greeks he commanded to remain 
in Sai's, where he was, and the rest of the 
army he took with himself. And when he was 
come in his march to Thebes, he separated 
from his army fifty thousand men or there- 
abouts, and gave commandment to them that 
they should take the priests of the Hammonians 
alive and burn the temple of Zeus ; but he him- 
self with the rest of the army marched against 
the Ethiopians. But before he had accom- 
plished even the fifth part of the way, all that 



200 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

they had of food or like to food failed them. 
And when the food was all spent, then they 
consumed the beasts of burden. And if Cam- 
byses when he saw these things had considered 
the matter again, and led back his army to 
Egypt, he had been a wise man, for all that he 
had erred at the first. But he took no count 
of these things, but would still go forward. 
And indeed while the men could get aught 
from the earth, they made shift to live, eating 
grass and the like ; but when they came to 
the sand, then they did a dreadful thing. For 
each ten cast lots among themselves, and the 
man on whom the lot fell they devoured. And 
when Cambyses knew this he was afraid, for it 
seemed a terrible thing that they should eat 
each other, and he gave up marching against 
the Ethiopians, and returned to Thebes, having 
lost a great part of his army. And from 
Thebes he went to Memphis, and being at 
Memphis he let the Greeks that were there 
depart. 

Thus fared the army that marched against 
the Ethiopians, but as for that which marched 
against the Hammonians, men know not how it 



THE STORY OF KING CAMBYSES. 201 

fared. So much indeed men know, that it set 
out from Thebes, having guides with it, and that 
it came to the city of Oasis, which is seven 
days' journey from Thebes across the sand. 
This Oasis is the same as that which the 
Greeks call the " Island of the Blest." But as 
for the things that befell them after this there 
is known nothing, for they came not to the 
Hammonians, neither did they return to Thebes. 
Nevertheless the Hammonians say that when 
they had left the city of Oasis, and had 
come to a place which lies midway between 
the country of the Hammonians and Oasis, 
early in the morning, as they were taking their 
meat, there came a south wind, very strong and 
sudden, and blew on them, and that this wind 
carried with it great columns of sand ; and that 
they were covered with these, and so were seen 
no more. 

About this time befell that which has been 
told before, how Cambyses wounded to death 
the sacred bull which the Egyptians call 
Apis. 

The Egyptians say that Cambyses was 
stricken with madness by reason of his wicked- 



202 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

ness in doing this thing. But of a truth he 
had been for some time of an unsound mind. 
The first of his evil deeds was this, that he 
slew Smerdis, his own brother. This Smerdis 
he sent away out of Egypt into Persia on 
account of envy, because he only was able to 
draw the bow which the King of the long-lived 
Ethiopians sent for a gift; and, indeed, Smerdis 
himself drew it but two fingers' breadth. And 
when he departed Cambyses saw a vision in 
his sleep, and the vision was this. It appeared 
to him as if a messenger came from Persia and 
told him that Smerdis sat upon the King's 
throne, and that his head reached even unto 
the heavens. Wherefore, he feared lest his 
brother should slay him, and be made king 
in his stead. For this cause he sent to Persia 
one Prexaspes, whom he judged to be the most 
faithful of his servants, and bade him slay 
Smerdis. And this Prexaspes, having first 
gone to Susa, did ; but whether he slew him 
when they were hunting together, or took him 
to the Red Sea and there drowned him, is not 
certainly known. 

Also Cambyses slew one of his sisters. And 



THE STORY OF KING CAMBYSES. .203 

about her and the manner of her death there 
are told two tales. For the Greeks say that it 
befell in this manner. Cambyses, for sport, 
set a dog whelp to fight with a lion whelp. 
And when the dog was about to be overcome, 
his brother brake his chain and helped his 
brother, and the two together had the mastery of 
the lion. Now it chanced that Cambyses' sister 
also saw the thing; and the King was pleased, 
but the woman wept. And Cambyses asked 
her why she wept, to which she answered, " I 
wept because I saw the dog help his brother, 
for I remembered Smerdis, and know that there 
is no one to help thee." But the Egyptians 
say that the woman showed him a lettuce of 
which she had stripped the leaves, and asked of 
him whether it were the fairer full or so stripped. 
And when the King made answer, " The full is 
fairer," the woman said, " Why then hast thou 
done to the house of Cyrus as I have done to 
this lettuce?" Whereupon the King in great 
anger smote her that she died. 

Such madness did Cambyses work against his 
own kindred, whether on account of that which 
he did to the god Apis, or of some other 



204 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

thing, such as often befall the sons of men. 
Some indeed say that from birth he was afflicted 
with a certain disease of the body ; and indeed 
it is nothing unlikely that he who hath his body 
diseased should also be diseased in mind. 

He did also many frantic things against 
others of the Persians, as against Prexaspes, of 
whom mention has before been made. There 
was none more faithful to him than this Prex- 
aspes, executing all his commands very zealously. 
Also the King had his son for cupbearer, 
and this is accounted a great honour. King 
Cambyses said to this man, " Prexaspes, what 
manner of man do the Persians hold me to be ? 
And what do they say of me ? " To this 
Prexaspes made answer, "O my lord, as to 
other things the Persians praise thee greatly, 
but they say that thou art overmuch given to 
the love of wine." But when the King had 
heard this he was very wroth, and said, " The 
Persians then say that I tarry overlong at the 
wine, and am not sound of mind. And as to 
what they were wont in former times to say of 
of me, it is not true." For before this Cambyses 
had asked of the Persians that sat at meat with 



THE STORY OF KING CAMBYSES. 205 

him, and of Croesus, what manner of man they 
judged him to be in comparison of his father ; 
and they had answered him that he was a better 
man than his father, for that he had all the 
possessions of his father, and had gained also in 
addition both Egypt and the sea. This is what 
the Persians said, but Croesus being present 
was not pleased with their answer, but said this 
to the King, " As for me, O son of Cyrus, I 
judge thee not to be equal to thy father, for 
thou hast not a son, such as he left behind, 
leaving thee." With this answer of Croesus 
Cambyses was beyond measure pleased. Now 
therefore he remembered the things that had 
been said to him, and said in great wrath to 
Prexaspes, " Thou shalt soon learn for thyself 
whether the Persians speak truly if they thus 
speak of me, or whether they are rather mad 
themselves when they say such things. Set thy 
son yonder in the doorway, and if I shoot at him 
with an arrow and smite him in the middle of 
the heart, then shall the Persians be seen to say 
that which is false, but if I smite him not so as 
I say, then do the Persians say the truth and I 
am not of sound mind." When he had said this 



206 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

he drew his bow, and shot at the boy, and hit 
him. And when the boy fell, the King com- 
manded that they should open the body, and 
see the wound where it was. And when they 
found the arrow in the heart of the boy, the King 
laughed aloud, and was in great joy, and said to 
the lad's father, " Prexaspes, now is it not mani- 
fest that I am not mad, and that the Persians 
are not of sound mind ? And tell me now, didst 
thou ever see a man shoot so straight at the 
mark as do I ?" To this the man made answer, 
" My lord, I judge that not even a god could 
shoot so well." For he saw that the man was 
mad, and was in fear of his own life. Also 
Cambyses took twelve men of the Persians, 
than whom there were none greater in the land, 
and buried them alive with their heads down- 
ward, and this he did for no sufficient cause. But 
when he did this, Croesus the Lydian judged it 
well to give the man counsel, and this he did, 
saying, " O my lord, it is not fitting that thou 
shouldst indulge thy heart in all things, rather 
shouldst thou refrain thyself. For now thou 
takest men that are of the same nation as thou 
art and slayest them for no sufficient cause, and 



THE STORY OF KING CAMBYSES. 207 

thou slayest children also. Take heed therefore 
lest haply, if thou dost such things, the Persians 
rebel against thee. And this I say because 
King Cyrus thy father laid on me a command 
that I should give thee counsel as I should 
deem it to be best for thy welfare." This 
counsel did Crcesus give to Cambyses out of 
love and kindness. But Cambyses answered 
him, " Dost thou dare to give counsel to me, 
having, forsooth, managed the affairs of thine 
own kingdom excellently well, and having given 
such excellent good counsel to the King Cyrus 
my father when thou badest him cross the river 
Araxes and so fight against the Massagetae, 
though these were willing themselves to cross the 
river and so fight against him ? Thou wast an 
evil ruler to thine own country, bringing it to 
ruin, and an evil counsellor to the King my 
father, who perished because he did according 
to thy word. But verily thou shalt suffer for it, 
and indeed I have long sought occasion against 
thee." So saying he laid hold of his bow and 
would have shot at Crcesus, but Crcesus ran out 
of the chamber. Then Cambyses, because he 
could not shoot him, gave commandment to his 



2o8 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

servants that they should take Croesus and slay 
him. But the men, knowing the King's way, 
slew him not, but hid him away, saying to them- 
selves, "If the King shall repent him of this 
thing, then will we show Croesus alive, and 
receive gifts as the price of his life. But if he shall 
not repent him, nor feel sorrow for the thing, then 
will we do the deed." And it befell not many 
days afterwards that the King repented him of 
the deed ; whereupon the men told him of the 
thing which they had done, saying that Croesus 
was yet alive. Then Cambyses said that it 
pleased him much that Croesus was alive ; but as 
for the men, that he would not give them any 
reward, but would slay them. And this he did. 
For these and many other things which he 
did it is manifest that King Cambyses was not 
of a sound mind ; especially because he scoffed 
at sacred things, making sport of the images of 
the Gods, and intruding himself into holy 
places into which it is not lawful but for the 
priests to enter. For indeed there is nothing 
that all men hold more sacred than custom. 
And if a man were to give all nations the choice 
of the best customs which they could find in all 
the earth, assuredly each nation would choose 



S TOR Y OF CAMB YSES. 209 

its own customs. It is therefore not to be 
believed that a man should scoff at such things, 
except indeed he were mad. But that it is true 
as hath been said, that men hold the custom 
which they themselves follow to be the best, 
may be proved by many proofs, and not the 
least clearly from that which shall now be told. 
Darius, King of Persia, having called for certain 
Greeks that were about his court, asked them 
for how great a sum of money they would eat 
their fathers when they should die ; and the 
Greeks answered that for no sum of money 
whatsoever would they do such a thing. After 
this Darius called certain Indians before him. 
Now these Indians eat their parents when they 
are dead. The King therefore asked them, the 
Greeks being present, and understanding by 
means of an interpreter the things that were 
said, for how great a sum of money they would 
be willing to burn their fathers with fire when 
they should die. But these men when they 
heard it cried aloud, saying that he should not 
speak of such horrible doings. Wherefore it 
seems that Pindar spake well when he said, 
" Custom is the king of all." 

15 



210 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

Now it came to pass that, Cambyses tarrying 
long time in Egypt, and plainly showing him- 
self to be mad, there rebelled against him two 
Magians that were brothers ; and one of these 
two Cambyses had left to be steward of his 
house. Now this man knew that Smerdis 
had been slain, and that the matter had been 
kept secret, and that the Persians that knew it 
were few in number, the most part supposing 
that the man was yet alive. Knowing this, 
therefore, he contrived a plot by which he 
might possess the kingdom. He had a brother, 
the same that joined him in his rebellion, and 
the name of this brother was Smerdis, and he 
was very like in face to Smerdis the son of 
Cyrus, that had been slain by his brother 
King Cambyses. Very like was he in face, and 
he was of the same name also. The elder of 
the two, therefore, having assured the other that 
he would accomplish the whole matter for him, 
set him on the throne. And when he had done 
this, he sent heralds to the provinces, and a 
herald also to Egypt, bidding him proclaim to 
the army that they should thereafter follow 
Smerdis the son of Cyrus, and not Cambyses 



STORY OF CAMBYSES. 211 

any more. All the other heralds did as it had 
been commanded them, and so did the herald 
that was sent to Egypt. This man found 
Cambyses and his army in Agbatana, which is 
a town of Syria, and going into the midst of 
the host, stood before them all, and proclaimed 
with a loud voice the words which the Marian 
had told him. And when Cambyses heard the 
words of the herald, thinking that they were 
true words, and that he had been deceived by 
Prexaspes, who having been sent to slay Smerdis 
had not slain him, he looked at Prexaspes, and 
said to him, " Prexaspes, is it thus that thou 
didst the business that I committed to thee ? " 
Then Prexaspes made answer, " O my lord, 
these words are not true, nor hath thy brother 
Smerdis rebelled against thee, nor shalt thou 
ever have any quarrel with him, be it great or 
small. For indeed I did the thing which thou 
commandedst me, and buried the man with my 
own hands. But if the dead rise, then indeed 
thou mayest look for Astyages the Median to 
rebel against thee. But if it be with the dead 
as it hath ever been, then from that man thou 
shalt never have trouble. Do thou, therefore, 



212 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

send men to follow after this herald, and over- 
take him, and ask thou him from whence he 
cometh, bidding us obey King Smerdis." Then 
the thing which Prexaspes said pleased Cam- 
byses, and he sent men to bring back the 
herald. And when the man was returned, 
Prexaspes enquired of him, saying, " Man, thou 
sayest that thou art come as a messenger from 
Smerdis, the son of Cyrus. Tell me therefore 
this one thing only, and so depart in peace. 
Didst thou see Smerdis face to face when he gave 
thee commandment to say these words, or didst 
thou hear them from one of his servants ? " And 
the man made answer, " I have never seen 
Smerdis, the son of Cyrus, from the day that 
King Cambyses marched into Egypt. But the 
Magian whom Cambyses made steward of his 
household, he it was that commanded me to say 
these words to you." The man spake thus, 
hiding nothing of the truth. Then said King 
Cambyses, " Prexaspes, thou hast been a good 
servant to me, doing the thing which I com- 
manded thee. But tell me, who of the Persians 
hath rebelled against me, taking to himself the 
name of Smerdis ?" Then Prexaspes answered, 



STORY OF CAMBYSES. 213 

" My lord the King, I understand the whole 
matter. They that have rebelled against thee 
are the Magians, Patizeithes, whom thou madest 
steward of thy household, and Smerdis his 
brother." But when Cambyses heard these 
words and the name of Smerdis he was struck 
to the heart, thinking of his dream and of the 
interpretation of it, how that he had seen one 
who told him that Smerdis sat upon the throne, 
and that his head reached unto the sky. And 
when he knew that he had slain his brother for 
nought, he wept for him and bewailed him. 
But when he had finished weeping, great anger 
possessed him, and he leapt upon his horse, 
having it in his mind to march as speedily as 
might be to Susa against the Magians. But as 
he leapt upon his horse, the leather of the sheath 
of his sword fell off, and the sword being thus 
bared wounded him in the thigh, and the place of 
the wound was the same, it was said, in which he 
had wounded the god Apis. Then Cambyses, 
judging that he was wounded to the death, 
asked them that were about him, " What is the 
name of this city ? " And they answered him, 
" The name of this city is Agbatana." Now it 



214 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

had been declared to Carnbyses by the oracle 
of Buto in Egypt that he should die in Agba- 
tana. And Carnbyses had thought that he 
should die when he should have come to old 
age in Agbatana that is in Media, but the 
oracle spake of Agbatana in Syria. And when 
lie heard the name of the city, then, being sore 
troubled by that which he had heard of the 
Magian, and by his wound also, he came back 
to a sound mind. Therefore, understanding 
the oracle, he said, " Here is it decreed that 
Carnbyses the son of Cyrus shall die." More 
indeed he spake not at that time, but twenty 
days afterwards he called together the most 
considerable of the Persians that were with him, 
and spake to them according to these words: 
" Men of Persia, there is laid upon me this 
burden to make known to you the thing which 
of all things I most desired to hide from you. 
For when I was in the land of Egypt I saw in 
my sleep such a vision as it had been well for 
me never to have seen. I saw a messenger 
coming to me from home, and saying, ' Smerdis 
sitteth on the King's throne, and his head 
reacheth unto the heavens.' Fearing, therefore, 



STORY OF CAMBYSES. 215 

lest my brother should take my kingdom from 
me, I did a thing that was hasty rather than 
wise. For, indeed, it is not possible for a man 
to turn away from him that which is ordained, 
yet did I, being a fool, send Prexaspes to Susa, 
that he might slay Smerdis. And having done 
this great wickedness, I lived without fear, not 
thinking that some other Smerdis might rise 
against me. And because I knew not that 
which should come to pass, I made myself the 
murderer of my brother, and served no end 
thereby, for lo ! I am not the less robbed this 
day of my kingdom. For the Smerdis that I 
saw in my dream to rebel against me is this 
Magian. But now the deed is done. Be ye 
sure, therefore, that Smerdis the son of Cyrus 
ye shall see no more; and that they who possess 
the kingdom are the Magians, to wit, the man 
whom I made to be steward of my household, 
and Smerdis his brother. And now he who 
sho uld by right have avenged me of these men 
from whom I suffer this wrong is dead, having 
been slain by the hand of him that was nearest 
to him. Wherefore, he being thus dead, it only 
remains for me to tell you, ye men of Persia, 



216 STORIES OF THE EAST. 



that which I would have you do, when I also 
am departed. For I lay this charge upon 
you by all the gods of our royal house, and 
specially upon you that are of the lineage of 
Achaemenes, that ye suffer not the kingdom 
to pass from you to the Medes. And if they 
have taken it by craft, then I charge you that 
ye take it from them again by craft ; and if 
they have mastered it by strength, then that 
by strength ye also recover it again. And if 
ye so do, then I pray that your land may bear 
its increase for you, and that your wives bear 
you children, and your flocks and herds be 
multiplied, and that you be free men for ever. 
But if ye do not recover it, or at the least, do 
your utmost at recovering it, then I pray that 
all things contrary to these may befall you, and 
moreover, that every one of you, as many 
Persians as there are, may perish, even as I 
perish this day." And when he had so spoken, 
Cambyses lifted up his voice and wept, bewailing 
himself and his evil lot. And when the 
Persians saw that the King bewailed himself, 
they rent their garments, every one of them, 
and cried in a most lamentable fashion. And 



STORY OF CAMBYSES. 217 

not a long while afterwards, the bone breaking 
away and the flesh of his thigh mortifying, 
Cambyses the son of Cyrus died, having 
reigned in all seven years and six months. 
And he left no issue, neither male nor female. 
There remained, therefore, of the house of 
Cyrus one daughter only, Atossa by name. 



2iS STORIES OF THE EAST. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE FALSE SMERDIS IS SLAIN. 

Now the Persians believed not the words of 
Cambyses that the kingdom was in the hands 
of the Magians, thinking that he had said these 
things for envy and hatred of Smerdis, to the 
end that the Persians might be made enemies 
to him. Prexaspes also was very vehement in 
denying that he had slain the true Smerdis, for 
indeed he would have been in great peril of his 
life, now that Cambyses was dead, confessing 
that he had slain a son of Cyrus with his own 
hand. Wherefore the Magian reigned in peace, 
feigning that he was Smerdis the son of Cyrus. 
And this he did for seven months, during which 
time he showed great kindness to all the nations 
over which the kings of Persia rule, so that 
when he was overthrown all Asia lamented for 
him, and the Persians only rejoiced. For indeed 
he sent to every nation and proclaimed that for 



THE STORY OF THE FALSE SMERDIS. 219 



the space of three years they should neither bear 
arms nor pay tribute. This proclamation he 
made at the beginning of his reign, but in the 
eighth month he was overthrown. And the 
manner of his overthrowing was this. 

There was a certain Otanes among the Per- 
sians, that was both well born and rich, so that 
none other of the people excelled him in these 
respects. He it was that first had the thought 
that the Magian, whoever he might be, was not 
of a truth Smerdis the son of Cyrus ; and the 
reason of his thought was this, that the man 
never came forth from the castle, and admitted 
not any of the great men among the Persians to 
his presence. Having therefore this thought 
he did thus. He had a daughter, Phcedime 
by name, that had been married to Cambyses. 
Now the Magian had taken this Phcedime and 
the other wives of Cambyses to be his wives. 
Therefore Otanes sent to his daughter, saying, 
" Who is this man that is thy husband ? Is it 
of truth Smerdis the son of Cyrus or some 
other man ? " And the woman answered, " I 
know not, for Smerdis the son of Cyrus I never 
saw, and I know not who is this man." Then 



220 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

Otanes sent again, saying, " If thou knowest 
not Smerdis the son of Cyrus yet doth Atossa 
know. Enquire therefore of her." For Atossa 
was the daughter of Cyrus. But Phoedime sent 
to her father, saying, " I cannot come to speak 
with Atossa, or with any of the women that 
dwell in the palace. For so soon as this man, 
whoever he be, came to the kingdom, he ordered 
it thus with the women in the palace, that they 
should not have speech the one with the other." 
But when Otanes heard this it was manifest to 
him that the matter was indeed as he had 
thought. Therefore he sent to his daughter a 
third time, saying, " My daughter, thou art come 
of a good stock, and shouldst not shrink from 
such task as thy father shall set thee, though it 
be full of peril. If this man be not Smerdis 
the son of Cyrus, but he whom I think him to 
be, surely he shall not go unpunished, taking 
thee to wife, and sitting upon the throne of the 
Persians. Do thou therefore after my words. 
When the man is asleep, touch his ears ; and if 
thou find that he hath ears, then know that thy 
husband is Smerdis, the son of Cyrus, but if he 
hath them not, that he is Smerdis the Magian." 



THE STORY OF THE FALSE SMERDIS. 221 

Then Phcedime sent to her father, saying, 
" This truly is a perilous task thou settest me. 
For if the man have not ears and I be found 
touching him in this fashion, without doubt he 
will slay me. Nevertheless, I will adventure it." 
Now Cambyses had cut off the ears of Smerdis 
the Magian for some great crime. So when 
the time came, Phcedime felt the head of the 
man, and knew that he had no ears. And 
so soon as it was day, she sent to her father, 
and told him the truth. 

So soon as Otanes heard this he took to 
him two other of the Persians, Aspathines and 
Gobryas, princes both of them, and friends to 
himself, and set forth the whole matter to them. 
These men had already the same thought about 
it as had Otanes ; and when they heard what 
he said, they listened to him readily. Then it 
seemed good to the three, that they should each 
choose the man whom he judged to be most 
faithful and steadfast. And Otanes chose Inta- 
phernes, and Gobryas Megabyzus, and Aspa- 
thines Hydarnes. And there being now six of 
them, there came to Susa Darius the son of 
Hystaspes from Persia, of which province his 



222 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

father was the governor. And it seemed good 
to the six to take this Darius to them. So these 
seven men sware to each other that they would 
keep faith, and so consulted together. And 
when it came to Darius to declare his sentence, 
he said, " I thought that I, and none other, knew 
that the Magian was king, and that Smerdis 
the son of Cyrus was dead. And indeed I came 
to Susa in all haste for this very purpose, to 
contrive that this man should be slain. And 
now, since ye know the matter also and not I 
only, my judgment is that we should do the 
thing speedily and make no delay. For in such 
a matter it is not well to delay." To this Otanes 
made reply : " Son of Hystaspes, a valiant man 
is thy father, and thou art like to prove thyself 
as good as he. But as to this matter, be not 
hasty and rash, but deal as prudently with it as 
may be. And first there must be more of us 
before we put our hands to it." Then said 
Darius : " Hearken to me ye that are present. 
Be ye sure that if ye follow the counsel of 
Otanes ye will perish miserably, for some one 
will carry the matter to the Magian, hoping 
thus to gain advantage for himself. Rather 



THE STORY OF THE FALSE SMERDIS. 223 

should ye have kept the matter to yourselves, 
and done the deed without delay. But now, 
since it hath seemed good to you to make it 
known to others, and ye have also opened 
it to me, I say this. Let us do the deed this 
very day ; or verily, if this day pass by and 
it be not done, I will go before any other, 
and tell the whole matter to the Maeian." 
To this Otanes made answer : " Come then, 
since thou wilt have us make haste, and wilt 
not suffer us to delay, say by what means we 
may make our way into the palace, for that 
guards are set about it everywhere thou knowest, 
having seen them thyself, or, at the least, heard 
of them. How shall we pass these by ? " Darius 
answered, " There are many things, Otanes, 
which cannot be shown by words but by deeds 
only ; and many things also which have a fair 
look when one speaketh of them, yet doth no- 
thing good come of them. As for these guards 
that are set about the palace, ye yourselves 
know that it is in no wise difficult to pass them 
by. For first there is no man of them who, 
knowing what place we have in this kingdom, 
will stay us from passing, such reverence, nay, 



224 STORIES OF THE EAST. 



such fear will he have of us ; and next, I myself 
have a most excellent pretence by which I will 
pass, for I will say that I am lately come from 
the province of Persia, and that I have a 
message from my father to the King. And 
indeed, when a lie is needed, then let a man 
lie. For they that lie and they that speak the 
truth seek the selfsame thing. They that lie, 
lie because they hope by persuading another to 
gain some advantage for themselves, and they 
that speak the truth, speak it desiring so to 
get some gain to themselves, being the better 
trusted in time to come. Thus, though they 
follow not in the same way, they seek the same 
end. And surely, if they were like to get no 
gain in the matter, then would the speaker of 
truth become a liar, and the liar a speaker of 
truth. But as to these guards, whosoever shall 
let us pass of his own free will, it shall be the 
better for him in time to come ; and whosoever 
shall seek to hinder us, he shall be counted for 
an enemy. Him will we thrust aside, and so 
entering do our business." Then said Gobryas : 
" My friends, we shall never have fairer chance 
than this to win back the throne ; or, if we fail 



THE STORY OF THE FALSE SMERDIS. 225 

to win it, then to die. For now we, who are 
Persians, are ruled by a Mede, and this a 
Magian, and one, to boot, that hath no ears. 
As for you that were with Cambyses when he 
was sick, do ye not remember how, being now 
about to die, he denounced all manner of evil 
against you, if ye sought not to recover the 
kingdom ? Then indeed we counted not his 
words to be true, thinking that he spake from 
jealousy of his brother ; but now have we proof 
of them. Wherefore I give my vote for this, 
that when we break up this assembly of ours 
we go forthwith against the Magian to slay him. 
Now, while these seven men were thus hold- 
ing counsel together, there fell out other things 
which shall now be told. It seemed good to 
the two Magiansto make Prexaspes their friend; 
and this they did because they knew that he 
had suffered a great wrong at the hands of 
Cambyses, who had slain his son by shooting 
at him, and because he alone among the Per- 
sians knew for a certainty that Smerdis the 
son of Cyrus was dead, having indeed slain 
him with his own hand, and also because Prex- 
aspes was held in high repute among the Per- 

16 



226 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

sians. Wherefore they called him to them and 
sought to make him their friend, binding him by 
pledges and oaths that he would keep to him- 
self and not disclose to any man the deceit 
which they had devised against the Persians, 
and they on their part promised that they 
would bestow on him all manner of orood things. 
And Prexaspes promised to do as they would 
have him. Thereupon they said that they 
would gather together all the Persians to the 
royal castle ; and they bade him go up on a 
high tower that was in the castle, and proclaim 
to the men that their King was Smerdis the 
son of Cyrus, and none other. This command- 
ment they gave him, knowing that he had 
been shamefully entreated by Cambyses, and 
because there was no man whom the Persians 
would be more willing to believe than this 
Prexaspes, and also because he had often and 
vehemently affirmed that Smerdis the son of 
Cyrus was yet alive, and had denied that he 
had himself slain him. And when Prexaspes 
had said that he was ready to do all this, then 
the Marians assembled all the Persians at the 
royal castle, and set Prexaspes on a high tower, 



THE STORY OF THE FALSE SMERDIS. 127 

and bade him say on. But the man said not a 
single thing of that which they had commanded 
him, but set forth the genealogy of Cyrus, 
beginning with Achaemenes, and when he came 
to Cyrus himself, he related all the good which 
he had done to his people ; and when he had 
ended speaking of this, he told the whole truth 
about the matter in hand, saying that he had 
before concealed it, as knowing that it would 
not be safe for him to speak the truth, but now, 
he said, there was a strong necessity laid upon 
him to unfold the whole matter. So he told 
the Persians how, under compulsion from Cam- 
byses, he had himself slain Smerdis the son of 
Cyrus, and how the Magian was king of the 
realm. Also he called down many curses on 
the Persians if they did not recover the kingdom 
for the Persians, and so avenge themselves 
on the Magians. And having said so much, 
he threw himself down with his head foremost 
from the tower, and so died. 

But the seven Persians, having resolved as 
hath been before told, to do their business at 
once and make no delay, prayed to the Gods, 
and so departed, knowing nothing of that which 



228 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

had befallen in the matter of Prexaspes. But 
when they were on the way, having now per- 
formed the half of the journey, they heard what 
had befallen. And when they heard it, they 
stood aside out of the way for a while, and held 
counsel with themselves. Then Otanes and they 
that were with him advised that they should 
bv all means defer the matter, neither adven- 
ture themselves when all things were in such 
tumult ; but Darius and his friends were urgent 
that they should finish it forthwith and make no 
delay. And while they disputed, they saw seven 
pairs of hawks that were pursuing two pairs of 
vultures, and tearing them with their claws and 
picking them with their bills. And the seven 
when they saw this sight took heart, and 
assented all of them to the counsel of Darius, 
and went straightway to the palace. And when 
they were come to the gates, then it fell out 
even as Darius had said, for the guards had 
respect to the seven, knowing them to be 
princes among the Persians, and not thinking, 
indeed, that they had any ill purpose, and so 
let them pass, and it seemed as if the Gods 
themselves led them to their work, for no one 



THE STORY OF THE FALSE SMERDIS. 229 

asked them any question. And when they 
had passed the guards and were come into the 
hall of the palace, there met them certain of 
the eunuchs that are wont to carry messages 
for the King. These enquired of them for 
what purpose they had come, and blamed the 
keepers of the door that they had suffered them 
to pass, and sought to hinder them that they 
should not go further. Then the seven en- 
couraged one another, and drew their daggers 
and stabbed those that would have stopped 
them, making their way with all haste into the 
chamber of the men. Now it chanced that both 
the Magians were within, holding counsel about 
the matter of Prexaspes, what it were best for 
them to do. And when they perceived that 
there was a stir among the eunuchs and also 
heard them cry out, they themselves ran forth, 
for they would fain know what had happened. 
And so soon as they knew it, they sought to 
defend themselves, and one of them laid hold 
of a bow and the other of a spear. And when 
they had done this the seven closed with them. 
Now he that had the bow and arrows found 
them of no avail, for his enemies were upon 



230 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

him, neither could he use them. But he that 
had the spear did somewhat with it, for he 
wounded Aspathines in the thigh, and Inta- 
phernes in the eye. As for Intaphernes he 
died not of his wound, but the sight of his eye 
was destroyed. Then the other Magian, he 
that had the bow and arrows, seeing that they 
availed him nothing, turned and fled into an 
inner chamber, for there chanced to be such hard 
by the chamber where they were ; and two of 
the seven, to wit Darius and Gobryas, followed 
hard upon him and entered also. And as 
Gobryas laid hold on the Magian and rolled 
with him on the ground, Darius stood over 
them, not knowing what he should do, for it 
was dark, and he feared lest he should smite 
Gobryas. And when Gobryas saw that he stood 
and did nothing, he cried to him, " Why dost 
thou not strike ? " And Darius answered, " I 
am afraid lest I should smite thee." Then said 
Gobryas again, " Let drive with thy sword, 
though it be through the two of us." And 
Darius hearkened, and let drive with his sword, 
and, as it chanced, slew the Magian. 

And when they had slain the two Magians, 



THE STORY OF THE FALSE SMERDIS. ' 231 

and had cut off their heads, they left thetwo 
that were wounded, for these had not strength 
to follow them and might also serve to keep the 
castle, and rushed forth, holding the heads of 
the two Magians in their hands, and called to 
the other Persians, to whom also they told the 
thing which they had done and showed the 
heads. And while they did this they slew any 
Magian whom they chanced to meet. Then 
the other Persians, when they knew what had 
been done, and how they had been deceived of 
the Magians, thought it well to do likewise, and 
drew their daggers and slew all the Magians 
whom they found. And indeed they had not 
left any Magian alive, only that the darkness 
stopped them in their deed. This day the 
Persians keep ever in remembrance, and hold 
a great feast upon it, calling it the " Massacre 
of the Magians." And on that day no Magian 
may come forth, but they all keep themselves in 
their houses. 

Now, after four days, when the tumult had 
now ceased, the seven met to take counsel 
concerning the affairs of the kingdom. And 
first they discoursed as to what manner of go- 



232 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

vernment it would be best to establish. Then 
Otanes set forth his opinion that it would be 
well to give the power to the whole nation. 
" For consider," he said, "what oppression ye 
endured from Cambyses, and of late also from 
this Magian. For even a good man, if he be 
not bound to answer for his doings, hath his 
heart lifted up in him, and is led astray to do 
all manner of violence and wrong, and to shed 
innocent blood. But if the people bear rule, 
then every man answereth for his doings, and 
all have rio-ht and justice." To this Mepa- 
byzus made answer : " I like not more than 
doth Otanes the rule of one man ; but I agree 
not with him when he seeketh to give power 
to the multitude. For if the oppression of 
one man be hard to bear, how much less to 
be endured is that which a man suffereth 
from the multitude ! For the one knoweth the 
thing that he doeth, but the other knoweth not 
anything. My counsel, therefore, is that we 
choose out a company of the wisest men of the 
nation, and commit the government unto them." 
Last of all Darius said : " I hold with that which 
Megabyzus hath said of the multitude ; but 



THE STORY OF THE FALSE SMERDIS. 233 



with that which he hath said of the few I hold 
not. For I count nothing to be better than 
the rule of one man. And indeed if the govern- 
ment be with the few that are accounted wise 
then arises strife between them, and from strife 
civil war, and at last one ruler is set up. And 
as for the multitude, though there be not strife, 
yet no man thinketh but of his own gain. And 
here also at the last one man is wont to stand 
up and set right that which hath been ill done ; 
and so do things come round to the rule of one. 
For which reasons, and because it is not well to 
change the customs of our forefathers, I give 
my vote that we commit the government to one 
man." 

Now when Darius had thus spoken, four out 
of the seven declared themselves to be of the 
same opinion. Then Otanes, seeing that he 
could not prevail, said this : " I perceive that 
it must needs be that we set up one of us to be 
a king, either casting lots or giving the choice 
to the Persians that they should elect whom 
they will, or by some other means. Now in 
this strife I take no part. I wish not to rule 
or to be ruled. Therefore I stand apart from 



234 STORIES OF THE EAST. 



the whole matter on this condition, that I be 
not subject to any of you, neither I, nor my 
children, nor my children's children after you." 
To these words they all agreed. So Otanes 
contended not for the kingdom, but stood 
apart. And to this day his house only of the 
whole nation of the Persians is free, beine sub- 
ject so far only as it will, but not transgressing 
the laws of the realm. 

After this the seven took counsel together how 
they might best choose one of them to be king. 
And first they determined that to Otanes and 
to his children for ever, if the kingdom should 
fall to another than he, there should be given 
year by year a Median robe and such other 
gifts as are counted to be most honourable 
among the Persians. And this they did be- 
cause Otanes first devised the whole matter, 
and set them upon slaying the Magian. This 
then they gave to Otanes for himself ; and to 
the others of the seven, that it should be lawful 
for them at all times to have audience of the 
King, and that without announcement made. 
Also they deemed that it should not be lawful 
for the King, whoever he might be, to take to 



THE STORY OF i HE FALSE SMERDIS. 235 

himself a wife, except from the families of the 
seven. And as to the kingdom, they agreed 
among themselves upon this sign, that they 
should all ride together before the city the next 
morning, and that he should be king whose 
horse should first nei^h. Now t Darius had 
for a groom a cunning fellow, whose name 
was CEbares. This man had a device by 
which he could make a horse neigh ; and this 
he did the next morning when the seven rode 
together before the city. And it also befell 
that when the horse of Darius neighed there 
came lightning and thunder from a clear sky. 
And when the five others saw this they leaped 
from their horses, and did obeisance to Darius. 
Thus was Darius the son of Hystaspes made 
King of the Persians. 



236 STORIES OF THE EAST. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE KINGDOM OF DARIUS. 

When Darius was established in his kingdom 
he divided it into twenty provinces, and set 
rulers in each, calling them satraos. And to 

' O J. 

each province he appointed a set tribute, either 
of gold or silver ; for before his days, when 
Cyrus was king, and afterwards in the days of 
Cambyses, there was no set tribute, but the 
nations brought gifts to the King. For this 
reason the Persians were wont to say that 
Darius was a trader, and Cambyses a master, 
and Cyrus a father ; for that Darius made a 
trade of everything, and Cambyses was violent 
and harsh, but that Cyrus was gentle as a father 
is gentle to his children, and devised for his 
people all manner of good things. 

Darius ruled over all Asia, only that the 
Arabians were not subject to him but friends ; 
and indeed, but for their friendship, the Persians 



THE KINGDOM OF DARIUS. 237 

had not conquered Egypt. Nevertheless they 
brought gifts to the King, a thousand talents of 
frankincense by the year. The other nations 
brought a tribute of gold or silver according to 
their power. But the people of Cilicia brought 
also three hundred and sixty white horses, one 
for every day in the year. And the manner of 
the King with his tribute is this. He causeth 
it to be melted down ; and when it is melted it 
is poured into earthern vessels, which being 
broken away there remains a mass of gold or 
silver. And if the King need money he takes 
as much as he will, and it is coined. But of all 
the nations there is none that payeth more 
tribute than the Indians, for these furnish three 
hundred and sixty talents of gold dust by the 
year. 

Of these Indians there are many strange 
things to be told. There is a tribe among them 
called the Padaeans that has this custom. If 
one of them be sick, either man or woman, they 
deal with him after this fashion. The man's 
friends come together to kill him, saying that if 
he be suffered to pine and waste away with 
sickness, his flesh will suffer damage. And 



238 STORIES OF THE EAST 

though the man protest most vehemently that 
he is by no means sick, they pay no *heed to his 
words, but slay him and make a feast of his 
flesh. And if it be a woman that is sick, then 
the women that commonly consort with her 
deal with her in the same way. And if it so 
chance that any one live to old age, him they 
sacrifice to the Gods and so devour. But of 
these there are but few, seeing that every one 
that falleth into any kind of disease is slain. 
Other Indians there are that will kill no man- 
ner of living creature. These live on a seed 
that groweth in their country of about the 
bigness of millet. 

The Indians that gather the gold are the 
most warlike of all ; and the way of gathering 
it is this. There is near to this people a sandy 
desert, and in this desert dwell great ants, 
somewhat smaller of size than dogs but bigger 
than foxes. (The Persian King keepeth some 
of these ants which the hunters have caught 
for him.) These ants make their dwellings by 
burrowing under the earth in the same manner 
as do the ants in Greece, to which indeed they 
are very much like in shape. Now the sand 



THE KINGDOM OF DARIUS. 239 

which they throw up is full of gold. The 
Indians therefore &o into the desert after this 

o 

sand, each man having with him three camels, 
yoked together side by side, a she-camel in the 
middle and a male camel on either side. The 
man rides on the she-camel and chooseth for him 
self one that has at home a young foal. Now 
the she-camels are as swift to run as horses, 
and for the bearing of burdens much better. 

When the Indians have thus equipped them- 
selves, they set out to seek for the gold. And 
they so order the time of their going that the 
time of seeking may be that when the day is 
at its hottest, for then the ants hide them- 
selves in the sand by reason of the heat. 
And in these lands the sun is hottest in the 
morning, and not as he is wont to be elsewhere, 
at noon, but rather from his rising to the time 
of the closing of the market. Then indeed he 
scorcheth more furiouslv than he doth in 
Greece at the noonday, so that the men of that 
country are fain, it is said, to drench themselves 
with water. But at midday he burns the 
Indians as much and no more than he doth 
other men. But in the afternoon the heat is as 



240 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

the heat of the morning elsewhere, and at sun- 
set there is great cold. So soon as the Indians 
are come to the gold country, they fill with sand 
the wallets which they have with them, and so 
depart with all the speed they may. For the 
ants find out their coming by the smell, and 
pursue. And these creatures, say the Persians, 
are swifter than anything else in the world ; 
nor would any of the Indians escape but that 
that they are already far upon their way before 
that the ants have gathered themselves together. 
And they say that in the flight the male camels, 
which indeed are not so fleet of foot as the she- 
camels, begin to drag behind both the one and 
the other, but the she-camels never slacken 
their speed one wit, for they remember the 
young ones which they have left behind them. 
Thus do the Indians get the most part of their 
gold, but some they dig out of the earth, only 
of this there is no great plenty. 

Such countries as are at the ends of the 
world bear all things, it would seem, of the 
very best and largest, even as Greece, which 
is in the centre of the world, has its seasons 
most excellently well tempered. So in India, 




"**4 



Je 






"«s3*"- sv 









'.--. r.:^i- 




,-4l I 



'i'.riT C-f 







THE KINGDOM OF DARIUS. 241 

which lieth more to the east than all other 
countries, the four-footed beasts and the birds 
are bigger than may be seen elsewhere. Here 
also there is much gold, of which some is dug 
from the earth, and some washed down by the 
rivers, and some, as has been said, stolen from 
the ants. Also there is in this country a tree 
which hath a fruit like unto wool ; from the 
fruit of which tree the Indians make their gar- 
ments. 

Arabia lieth farther to the south than all 
other lands ; and in this land only are found 
frankincense, and cassia, and cinnamon. All 
these spices the Arabians get not without 
much trouble and danger ; for the trees on 
which the frankincense grows are guarded by 
flying serpents, of which there is a great multi- 
tude round about each tree. These are small 
and of various colours ; and they drive them 
from the trees by burning the gum styrax 
beneath them. 

As to the cassia, they gather it thus : they 
cover their whole bodies and faces with ox-hide 
and other skins, but the eyes they leave un- 
covered, and so go seeking the cassia. Now 

17 



242 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

this cassia groweth in a lake, and the lake is 
not deep, but about it dwell certain winged 
beasts, very like to bats. These screech in 
horrible fashion and are fierce exceedingly, and 
the men keep them from their eyes, and so 
eather the cassia. 

But as to the gathering of the cinnamon, there 
is something yet more wonderful to be told. 
For where it groweth and what manner of 
country beareth it they know not. But they 
affirm, though the thing indeed is scarcely to be 
believed, that it groweth in the same land in 
which Bacchus was reared. The Arabians say 
that great birds carry the sticks (which the 
Greeks call cinnamon, having learnt this word 
from the Phoenicians) for the building of their 
nests, and that these nests are fastened with 
mud to the face of cliffs that are very steep and 
such as a man can by no means approach. But 
the Arabians devise this way of getting the 
sticks. They cut up the oxen and asses and 
other beasts that die in their land into pieces 
as great as may be, and carry these pieces of 
flesh to the country of the cinnamon, and having 
laid them down near to the cliffs, so depart. 



THE KINGDOM OE DARIUS. 



Then the birds fly down and lay hold of the 
pieces of flesh, and carry them up to their nests ; 
but these, not being able to bear the weight, are 
broken down and come to the earth. Then the 
men return and gather the sticks of cinnamon, 
and send it out to other countries. 

So many are the spices that grow in this land 
of Arabia that the w r hole country hath a mar- 
vellously sweet smell. It hath also two strange 
kinds of sheep, such as are not to be found 
elsewhere. The one kind have long tails, three 
cubits long at the least. And that these tails 
may not get wounded, as indeed they would 
were they dragged along upon the earth, the 
shepherds do so much carpenter's work as to 
make trucks for the tails. The tails are put 
upon trucks, each sheep having a truck for 
himself. The other kind have their tails very 
broad, even to the breadth of a cubit. 

There is a plain in the land of Asia that is shut 
in with mountains on every side, but through 
the mountains there are five passes. This plain 
once belonged to the Chorasmians, but since 
the Persians have had the rule of Asia it hath 
belonged to the Great Kinsf. Now from the 



244 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

mountains wherewith this plain is shut in there 
floweth a great river, and the name of this river 
is Aces. Now in old times this river was 
divided into seven streams, and these watered 
the countries of the five nations that dwell round 
about the plain, for a stream flowed through 
each of the passes. But since the Persians 
have had the rule of Asia it hath fared 
otherwise with these nations. For the Great 
King hath built up the passes of the mountains, 
and set at each one of them sreat eates. And 
so, the water being shut off from the channels 
whereby it was wont to flow, the whole plain 
within the mountain hath become a °reat sea 
for the river runneth into it, but has no way by 
which it may run out. Wherefore these nations, 
that were wont of old times to use the water, 
are grievously troubled. In the winter, indeed, 
they have rain from heaven as do other men. 
but in summer, when they have sown their 
millet and sesame, they have need of water. 
Then as no water is given to them, they com 
with their wives to the land of the Persian 
and stand round about the doors of the Gre; t 
King, and make a great wailing, and tl 



THE KINGDOM OF DARIUS. 245 

King commandeth that they should open 
the doors that lead to the land of those that 
need the water the most. And when this land 
hath drunk enough, then the doors are shut, 
and the King gives command that the doors of 
those that need rain most of them that are left 
should be opened. But indeed it is said 
that the King granteth not the waters till he 
shall have received great gifts over and above 
the tribute. 



246 STORIES OF THE EAST. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

BABYLON REBELLETH AGAINST THE KING AND 

IS TAKEN. 

When Darius had reigned no long time, the 
Babylonians rebelled against him, having made 
very great preparations beforehand. For in 
the days when the Magian was king, and the 
seven conspired against him, there being great 
confusion in the land, the Babylonians ceased 
not making preparations against this siege, nor 
was any man aware of what they did. And 
when the time came that they should rebel 
openly, they did this thing. Every man chose 
one woman only out of his household whom he 
would ; and this being done, they strangled all 
that were left. But their mothers they strangled 
not, but saved them alive. And the one that 
each man chose they saved that she might make 
bread. The cause for which they strangled 
the women was this, that they might not con- 



THE STORY OF ZOPYRUS. 247 

sume the provisions that they had laid up for 
the siege. 

When Darius heard these things, he gathered 
all his host together, and marched to Babylon 
and besieged it. But the Babylonians took 
no heed of the siege, but went up on the 
bulwarks of the wall and danced, scoffing at 
Darius and his army. And as they did so, one 
of them cried aloud, saying, " Why sit ye here, 
ye Persians, and depart not ? For Babylon ye 
shall not take till mules shall bring forth foals." 
These words said one of the Babylonians, 
thinking that mules should never bring forth 
foals. And after the space of a year and seven 
months, King Darius was sore troubled and 
his army with him, because they could not take 
the city of Babylon. Yet had Darius used all 
manner of devices and stratagems against them, 
and among them the device which King Cyrus 
had used aforetime, even turning the stream of 
the river Euphrates ; but the men of Babylon 
ceased not to watch, and he prevailed nothing. 
Now there was in the army of the Persians 
one Zopyrus ; and this Zopyrus was the son 
of Megabyzus, who was of the seven that con- 



!48 STORIES OF THE EAST. 



spired against the Magian. To this Zopyrus it 
happened in the twentieth month of the siege 
that one of the mules that carried provender for 
him bare a foal. But when the tidings of this 
thing was brought to him, at the first Zopyrus 
would not believe it. But when he had seen 
the foal with his own eyes and so was persuaded, 
bidding his servants tell the matter to no one, he 
considered it with himself. And when he re- 
membered the words which the man of Babylon 
had spoken, when the siege was hardly begun, 
that the Persians might take the city when 
mules should bring forth foals, it seemed that 
now Babylon should indeed be taken, for it was 
of the Gods both that the man had spoken 
and that the mule had brought forth. Seeing 
then that the matter had been decreed by 
Heaven, he came near to Darius, and enquired 
of him whether the King counted it a great 
thing that Babylon should be taken. And 
when he heard that it was indeed so, he con- 
sidered with himself how he might take the 
city and gain this glory for himself; for such 
good deeds are held in high account among 
the Persians. But after he had weighed the 



THE STORY OF ZOPYRUS. 249 

matter for a long- time, it seemed that he could 
by no means bring it to pass, unless he should 
desert to the Babylonians, having first mutilated 
himself. After this, thinking it of no account 
what he should himself suffer, he wounded him- 
self in such fashion as was past all healing, for 
he cut off his nose and his ears, and laid many 
stripes upon his back, and so stood before 
Darius. And when the King saw him so 
shamefully ill-treated he had great indignation, 
for this Zopyrus was a man of great repute ; 
and he leapt up from his throne and cried out, 
asking him, " Who is the man that hath dealt 
so shamefully with thee ? " Then Zopyrus made 
answer, " There is no man save thee only, O 
King, that hath power to deal with me after 
this fashion. And indeed no other man hath 
done this deed, but I myself have done it. And 
I have done it because I judged it to be a 
dreadful thing that these Assyrians should laugh 
the Persians to scorn." Then the King said, 
" This is a fair name that thou givest to a very 
dreadful deed, saying that thou hast thus hurt 
thyself beyond all healing, because of these 
Assyrians that we are besieging. For how 



250 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

shall they be vanquished the sooner because 
thou hast suffered this thing ? Surely thou 
art besides thyself, thinking that this loss shall 
be our gain." Then said Zopyrus, " I doubt 
not, O King, that if I had told thee the thing 
that was in my heart to do, thou hadst not suf- 
fered it, for which cause I took counsel with 
myself alone, and so did it. Now, therefore, if 
thou fail not on thy part, Babylon is taken. 
For I will desert to their city, and will say to 
them that it is thou that hast dealt with me in 
this fashion. And I think that I shall so work 
with them that they shall give over to me a 
part of their army. But thou must do what I 
now tell thee. Reckon ten days from the day 
whereon I shall enter their city, and on the 
tenth day set a thousand men of thy army, 
being such as thou carest not if they perish, 
and set them in order by the gates that are 
called the gates of Semiramis. And on the 
seventh day after the tenth set two thousand 
in like manner by the gates that are called the 
gates of the Ninevites. And on the twentieth 
day after the seventh set four thousand others 
by the gates of the Chaldaeans. And let these 



THE STORY OF ZOPYRUS. 251 

have no other arms but short swords only ; 
these let them have. And when the twentieth 
day is past, then cause thy army to compass the 
city round about, but bring thy Persians near to 
the gates of Belus. For I judge that when I 
shall do great deeds for them, the men of 
Babylon will commit many things to my hands, 
and among these the keys also of the gates. 
But after this the Persians and I will order the 
matter as thou wouldst have it." 

Then Zopyrus, having thus instructed the 
King what he should do, went to the gates, 
turning himself to see if any pursued, as though 
he were in truth a deserter. Then they that 
stood upon the towers, whose business it was 
to deal with this matter, when they saw the 
man come near, ran down, and having opened 
one of the gates a little space, enquired of him 
who he was and what he wanted, that he came 
to them. Then he answered that his name was 
Zopyrus, and that he had deserted from the 
King to them. Then the keepers of the gates, 
when they heard these things, took him into the 
assembly of the Babylonians, wherein standing 
up he sought to move the pity of them that sat 



252 STORIES OF THE EAST. 



there, affirming that he had suffered from the 
hands of the Kino; the things which he had 
in truth done unto himself, and that he had 
suffered them because he had counselled him to 
take away his army from before Babylon, seeing 
that the city could not by any means be taken. 
" Now, therefore," he said, " O men of Babylon, 
my coming shall be no small advantage to you 
and to your city, but to Darius and to his army 
and to the whole nation of the Persians no 
small harm, seeing that I know all their goings 
out and comings in." Zopyrus said this, and 
when the Babylonians saw the man, how being 
of great account among his own people, he had 
had his ears cut off and his nose also, and was 
marked with many stripes on his body, and 
covered with blood, they doubted not that the 
things which he spake were true, and that he 
was ready to help them ; and so were willing to 
commit to him all that he asked. Then he 
asked them to give him an army, which, when 
he had reviewed, he did according as he had 
agreed beforehand with Darius, for on the 
tenth day after that he entered the city, he 
led forth the army of the Babylonians, and 



THE STORY OF ZOPYRUS. 253 



having surrounded the thousand whom Darius 
had sent from this end, he slew them. But 
when the men of Babylon perceived that his 
deeds were like unto his words, they rejoiced 
exceedingly, and were ready to give all things 
into his hands. Then again when the appointed 
days were passed, he chose certain of the 
Babylonians and marched out of the city and 
slew the two thousand soldiers that Darius had 
set in the appointed place. But when the men 
of Babylon saw this second thing that he did 
they all praised Zopyrus with one voice. Then 
the third time, after the twenty days had 
passed as was agreed, he led the Babylonians 
to the appointed place, and surrounded the 
four thousand, and slew them. But after this 
the Babylonians would have no one but Zopyrus, 
making him captain of the host and keeper of 
the wall. Then Darius made his attack as had 
been agreed ; and the men of Babylon went up 
on to the wall and fought against the Persians, 
but while they were busy doing this, Zopyrus 
performed the device which he had devised 
against them, for he opened the gates that are 
called the gates of Belus and of Cissus, and let 



254 STORIES OF THE EAST. 



the Persians into the city. And such of the 
men of the Babylonians as saw that which was 
done, fled to the temple of Belus, but such as 
saw it not remained each in his place till these 
also knew that they had been betrayed. 

Thus was the city of Babylon taken for the 
second time. And when Darius had conquered 
the Babylonians, he threw down their walls and 
took away their gates ; for Cyrus when he took 
Babylon the first time had done neither of these 
things. After this he took three thousand of 
the chief men among the people and slew them ; 
as for the rest of the Babylonians, he gave them 
back their city to dwell in ; also that they might 
have wives, for their own they had strangled 
that their food might not be consumed, he com- 
manded the nations round about to send some 
of their women to Babylon, appointing a certain 
number to each, the sum of the whole being 
fifty thousand. 

As for Zopyrus Darius held that no man had 
done better service to the state, save Cyrus 
only, for with Cyrus no man among the Per- 
sians compares himself. And indeed the King 
w T ould oftentimes say that he had sooner Zopy- 



THE STORY OF ZOPYRUS. 255 

rus was healed of his wounds than that he 
should have twenty Babylons over and above 
that which he had. And he honoured him 
greatly, giving him such gifts year by year as 
are most accounted of among the Persians. 
Also he gave him the city of Babylon for his 
dwelling free of tribute. 



256 STORIES OF THE EAST. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

KING DARIUS MAKETH WAR UPON THE SCYTHIANS. 

King Darius, being lord of all Asia, wherein 
were great multitudes of men and much wealth, 
purposed to make war against the Scythians, 
desiring also to punish them for their wrong- 
doing in time past. Now their wrong-doing had 
been this. They had invaded Asia in the days 
of the Medes, and had ruled it for twenty and 
eight years, and when the years were ended had 
gone back to their own land. About which 
going back there is this to be told. When they 
were come to the border of the land, they found 
an army drawn out in battle array against 
them ; and this army was of their own slaves. 
But when they had fought with the slaves 
many times and could not prevail, one of them 
said to his fellows, " Men of Scythia, we do 
ill, fighting against these slaves. Come, let us 



DARIUS AND THE SCYTHIANS. 257 

cast aside our spears and take each one of 
us his whip. For so long as they see us with 
arms in our hands they count themselves to be 
our equals, but when they shall see the whips 
they will remember that we are their masters." 
Thus the Scythians did, and it was so with the 
slaves, that when they sawjihe whips they fled. 
King Darius therefore prepared to make 
war against the Scythians, requiring soldiers 
from some nations, and from some ships, and 
commanding others that they should make a 
bridge over the Thracian Bosphorus. But in 
the meantime Artabanus, that was brother to 
the King, would have persuaded him not to go 
against the Scythians, as being men that had no 
possessions ; but he could not prevail. And 
when the King was now about to depart from 
Susa, which is the chief city of Persia, there 
came to him one CEobazus, entreating of him 
that he would suffer one of his sons to tarry at 
home, for he had three sons and all were in the 
army. Then the King said that because 
CEobazus was his friend and asked but a small 
thing, all his sons should tarry at home. 
Whereat the man was greatly rejoiced ; but the 

18 



258 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

King sent his executioners and slew them all. 
In this fashion did they tarry at home. 

When the King was come to the Bosphorus 
he set up two pillars of white marble, whereon 
he inscribed the names of all the nations as 
many as were in his army ; and indeed of all 
that he ruled none were absent. The writing 
on the one pillar was Persian and on the other 
Greek. Now the number of the men was 
seven hundred thousand, besides those that 
were in the ships, and of ships there were six 
hundred. After this he crossed by the bridge, 
which Ma^andrius of Samos had made over the 
Bosphorus, commanding the Ionians that they 
should sail along the shore to the river Danube 
and should make a bridge across the river, and 
so tarry till he should come. Then he went 
on his way through the land of Thrace till he 
came to the river Tearus. Of this river they 
say that the water thereof healeth diseases both 
of men and beasts beyond all others. It has 
thirty and eight springs flowing from one and 
the same rock, of which some are cold and 
some are hot. Here the King pitched his 
camp, and beside the river he set up a pillar 



DARIUS AND THE SCYTHIANS. 259 

by it, whereon was written, " To the Teams 
which is the best and fairest of all rivers came 
Darius, son of Hystaspes, King of the Persians, 
being the best and fairest of all men." At this 
time the Getae, that are called Immortal, sub- 
mitted themselves to him. This they did 
without fighting, though they are counted the 
most valiant and righteous of all the Thracians. 
The cause wherefore they are called Immortal 
is this. They believe that they die not, but 
that such as seem to die go to their god Zal- 
moxis. And every fifth year they send a 
messenger to Zalmoxis with a message concern- 
ing the things which they need. They cast lots 
who shall be this messenger ; and their manner 
of sending him is this. Some of them stand in 
order holding up three spears ; and others take 
the messenger whom they would send to Zal- 
moxis by the hands and the feet, and throw him 
from above on to the spears. If the man die they 
hold that Zalmoxis is gracious to them ; but if he 
die not, they blame the messenger, saying that 
he is a wicked man ; and then they look for 
another. But the message they give him while 
he is yet alive. These Thracians shoot arrows 



26o STORIES OF THE EAST. 

into the sky when there is thunder and light- 
ning, and threaten the Gods, holding that there 
is in truth no eod but this Zalmoxis. As for 
this Zalmoxis, some say that he was a slave in 
Samos, and that his master was Pythagoras, and 
that when he had gathered much wealth he 
went back to his country ; and that he affirmed 
that neither he nor they that were his disciples 
should die, but should come to a country full of 
all manner of all good things ; and that while 
he taught these things he made for himself 
a dwelling under the earth ; and that when 
this dwelling was finished he vanished out of 
the sight of the Thracians and dwelt therein 
for three years ; and that afterwards he showed 
himself again to the Thracians, so that they 
believed all that he had taught them. 

After this the King came to the Danube ; 
which when he had crossed, he said to the 
Ionians that they should loose the bridge and 
follow him. But when the Ionians were now 
about to loose it, a certain Coes, who was cap- 
tain of the men of Mitylene, spake thus to the 
King, having first heard that the King would 
willingly hear his opinion : "This land into which 



DARIUS AND THE SCYTHIANS. 261 

thou goest, O King, hath in it neither fields nor 
cities ; for which reason I would have thee leave 
this bridge, and leave also them that made it to 
guard it. For if we prosper in this journey and 
find the Scythians, then shall we have a way of 
return, and if we find them not, we shall also have 
a way. For that we shall turn our backs before 
the Scythians in battle, I fear not ; but only, 
that not being able to find them, we may wander 
a long time, and so suffer many things. And I 
say not this that I may myself be left behind, 
only I set forth the opinion that I hold to be 
best for thee, O King ; but as for myself I will 
go with thee, and will not be left behind." 
These words pleased Darius very much ; and 
he said to Coes, " Man of Lesbos, if I return in 
peace, come to my house, that I may recompense 
thee for thy good counsel." After this he took 
a thong, and tied in it sixty knots, and calling 
the kings of the Ionians, said to them, " My 
former purpose concerning the bridge is changed. 
Take, therefore, this thong, and do thus with it. 
Loose one knot every day, from the day when 
I shall depart hence to fight with the Scythians. 
And if I come not back when all these knots 



262 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

shall have been loosed, then sail back to your 
own land ; but for sixty days, according to the 
number of the knots, keep this bridge with 
all the care that ye may." And when he had 
said this, he went on his way searching for the 
Scythians. 

Now the Scythians, knowing that they could 
not stand against the Persians in battle, sent 
messengers to the nations round about that they 
should help them, for that the Persians had it 
in their mind to conquer the whole country. 
And when the Kings of these nations had met in 
council together, eight Kings in all, the assembly 
soon divided, for three were willing to help the 
Scythians, but five were not willing, saying that 
the Scythians had invaded the land of Asia and 
were now suffering punishment for their mis- 
deeds. When this was told to the Scythians they 
considered what they might best do ; and it 
seemed best that they should not join battle with 
the Persians, but should flee before them, filling 
the springs and the wells, and destroying the 
pasture. For this end they divided themselves 
into two armies ; whereof one, being one third 
part of the whole, having with them also the 



DARIUS AND THE SCYTHIANS. 263 

Sauromatae, should go towards the river Tanais, 
if the Persians should pursue them, but if the 
Persians turned back, should pursue in their 
turn ; and the remainder, having with them 
the Geloni and the Budini, should go towards 
the country of the five nations that would 
not help them, that the Persians might lay 
waste the country of these nations. But their 
waggons, wherein their wives and their children 
are wont to live, and their flocks and herds, save 
such only as they needed for food, they sent 
away, bidding them go northwards. After this, 
the swiftest of their horsemen went forth to 
meet the Persians, and found them encamped at 
a place that is three days' journey from the 
Danube. And when the Persians saw the 
Scythian horsemen they followed on their track, 
and pursued them a very long way till they 
came to the desert. Here Darius halted and 
made his camp by the river Oarus, and began to 
build eight great forts. But as the Scythians 
could nowhere be seen he left the forts un- 
finished, and marched towards the west. And 
as he marched he came upon the greater army 
of the Scythians, and these also gave way be- 



264 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

fore him, having always a day's journey between 
them and the Persians ; and they led them to 
the towns of those nations that were not will- 
ing- to help them. All these countries the Per- 
sians wasted, save only the country of the 
Agathyrsi ; for these came down armed to their 
borders, and were ready to fight with the Scy- 
thians. And when this had been done many 
days, Darius, being now weary, sent a horseman 
to Idanthyrsus, King of the Scythians, saying, 
"Why flyest thou ever in this fashion? If 
thou thinkest thyself able to meet me in battle, 
stay from thy wanderings and fight with me ; 
but if thou confessest thyself to be not worthy, 
cease from this running, and send gifts as to thy 
master, even earth and water, and let us talk 
together." To this Idanthyrsus, King of the 
Scythians, made answer : " I never feared any 
man that I should flee before him ; and I fear 
not thee, nor indeed do I now any other thing 
than that which I am wont to do in peace. But 
if thou wilt know why we do not fight with thee, 
hearken : we have neither city nor field for 
which we should fear, lest they should be taken 
or plundered, and so join battle with thee. Yet, 



DARIUS AND THE SCYTHIANS. 265 

if thou art minded by all means to fight with 
us, we have the tombs of our fathers. Find ye 
these, and seek to destroy them, and ye shall 
know right soon whether we will fight for the 
tombs of our fathers or no. But till thou do this 
we will not fight with thee till we be so minded. 
And as to what thou sayest of a master, know 
that our masters are Zeus only, whose son I am, 
and Vesta, that is Queen of the Scythians. As 
to these gifts of earth and water, I will not send 
them ; but I will send such as is meet for thee 
to receive." 

This answer the herald brought back to 
Darius ; but when the Kings of the Scythians 
heard this talk of masters and slaves they were 
very wroth, and they sent the smaller part of 
their army to treat with the Ionians at the 
bridge ; but with the larger part they deter- 
mined not to give way any more before the 
Persians, but to attack them while they were 
gathering food. This the Scythians did ; and 
the horsemen of the Persians always fled before 
their horsemen; but when the foot-soldiers 
came to the help of the horsemen, then the 
Scythians gave place. Also they made many 



266 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

attacks on the Persians by night. One thing 
indeed there was that hindered them. There 
is neither ass nor mule in the whole land 
of Scythia ; and it often fell out that when the 
horsemen of the Scythians were pursuing the 
Persians, the asses in their camp would bray ; 
and when the horses heard it they would be 
astonished and stand still, pricking up their ears, 
for they had not heard such sound before nor 
seen the shape of an ass. 

Now the Persians were troubled at what 
befell them ; and when the Scythians saw this, 
they sought to keep them in their country that 
they might come utterly to want. For this end 
they left some of their flocks with the shepherds 
behind them when they themselves departed to 
some other place. And the Persians coming 
upon the flocks and laying hold of them, were 
much encouraged, and so were the more willing 
to tarry in the country. But when this had 
been done many times at last King Darius was 
in sore straits and knew not what he should do. 
Then the King of the Scythians knowing this 
sent a herald with gifts to Darius, and the gifts 
were these : a bird, and a mouse, and a frw, and 



DARIUS AND THE SCYTHIANS. 267 

five arrows. And the Persians enquired of the 
herald that brought the gifts what they might 
signify ; but the man made answer that of this 
he knew nothing, but that it had been com- 
manded him to give the gifts to the King and 
then depart straightway, but that the Persians 
might themselves discover if only they were 
wise, what the gifts signified. And King Da- 
rius judged that the purpose of the Scythians 
was this, to give themselves up to him (which 
is commonly done by the giving of earth and 
water), for he considered that the mouse liveth 
in the earth, and eateth the fruits thereof even 
as doth a man, and that the frog liveth in the 
water, and that the bird is most like to the 
horse, and that as to the arrows these signified 
their arms which they gave up to him. This 
indeed was the opinion of King Darius ; but 
the judgment of Gobryas about the matter 
was widely different. (This Gobryas was 
one of the seven who slew the Magian.) He 
indeed interpreted the gift after this fashion : 
Unless ye become as birds and fly up into the 
air, or as mice and burrow in the earth, or as 
frogs and leap into the water, ye shall not go 



268 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

back, but shall be smitten with these arrows 
that ye die. Thus Gobryas judged about the 
gifts. But in the meanwhile one of the armies 
of the Scythians, that which had gone eastward 
to the Tanais, having returned by the way 
by which they went, came to the Danube and 
had speech with the Ionians that guarded the 
bridge, saying, " Men of Ionia, we come to 
you offering freedom if only ye will hearken 
unto us. We hear that Darius when he de- 
parted bade you guard the bridge for sixty 
days only, and that if he came not back within 
these sixty days, ye should loose the bridge 
and so depart to your own country. Now if 
ye do after these words ye shall have no blame 
either from him or from us. Tarry therefore 
for the appointed days and afterwards depart." 
And when the Ionians said that they would do 
so the Scythians went their way. Then this 
army of the Scythians departed ; and the other 
army set themselves in battle array against 
Darius, having both horse and foot, and purpos- 
ing to fight against him. And it so fell out 
when the two armies were drawn up the one 
over against the other, that a hare ran through 



DARIUS AND THE SCYTHIANS. 269 



the midst of the army of the Scythians, and when 
the Scythians saw it they left care of the battle 
and pursued after the hare. And Darius seeing 
that the Scythians were in much confusion and 
shouted aloud, enquired what this might mean 
that the enemy were so disturbed. And when 
he knew that they were busy pursuing the hare 
he turned to them to whom he was wont to speak 
at other times also, and said to them, " Surely 
these men have a great scorn for us ; and surely 
also Gobryas interpreted the gifts and their signi- 
fication aright. Seeing then that these things are 
so, we need good counsel that we may return in 
safety." And Gobryas said, " O King, I knew 
before that these men were hard to deal with ; 
and now I know it the more certainly when I 
see how they scoff at us. My judgment there- 
fore is this : so soon as it shall be night, let us 
light the fires in the camp, as we are wont to do 
at other times, and let us tie up the asses in 
their place, and let us so depart, leaving behind 
us such as be least able to endure hardship. 
And let us do this before that the Scythians go 
to the Danube and loose the bridge, or that 
the Ionians themselves consider that they may 



270 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

do us this hurt." This was the counsel of 
Gobryas ; and so soon as it was night Darius 
followed it. He left such of the soldiers as 
were sick, and such as were of least account, if 
they should perish, and he caused them to tie 
up the asses in their places in the camp, and so 
departed. And the cause why he left the asses 
and the sick men behind was this : the asses 
he left that they might make a noise, and the 
men because they could not make haste in 
marching. But to these he said that his 
purpose was to attack the Scythians with the 
better part of his army, and that they in the 
meanwhile should guard the camp. This 
Darius said to them that were left, and having 
caused the camp fires to be lighted he so de- 
parted, and made with all the speed that he 
could for the Danube. And the asses, missing 
the noise of the multitude about them, made 
themselves the more noise, which when the 
Scythians heard they made no doubt but that 
the Persians were yet in their camp. 

But when the day was come they that had 
been left behind of the Persians, judging that 
they had been betrayed by King Darius, sur- 



DARIUS AND THE SCYTHIANS. 271 

rendered themselves to the Scythians, and told 
what had been done. And the Scythians, so 
soon as they heard it, pursued after the Per- 
sians with both their armies, and with the 
nations also that had come to their help ; and 
they pursued, going straight to the Danube. 
But the Persians and the Scythians fell not in 
with each other for this cause, namely, that the 
army of the Persians was for the most part of 
foot soldiers, and they knew not the way, for 
indeed in the land of Scythia there are not 
roads duly made ; but the Scythians were horse- 
men, and they knew the shortest ways. For 
this cause they fell not in with each other ; but 
the Scythians came to the bridge of the Danube 
by a long time the first. And when they found 
that the Persians were not yet come to the 
bridge, they spake to the Ionians that were in 
the ships, saying, " Men of Ionia, the days that 
were numbered to you are now passed, and ye 
do wrong still tarrying here by the bridge. 
And if ye have done this heretofore in fear, 
fear ye no longer ; but leave the bridge with 
all speed, and go on your way rejoicing, and be 
free, thanking the Gods and the Scythians for 



272 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

these benefits. And as for the man that was 
your master, we will so order things with him 
that he shall not make war against any man 
hereafter for ever. ,, When they heard this the 
Ionians took counsel together. Then Miltiades 
the Athenian, who was King of the Chersonese 
that is near the Hellespont, advised that they 
should do according to the saying of the Scy- 
thians, and so set the Ionians free. But the 
advice of Histiaeus of Miletus was contrary to 
this, for he said, " Each one of us is king in his 
own city by reason of the power of Darius; 
and if this power be overthrown, then shall we 
be overthrown also, and neither he nor any 
man will be King in Miletus, or indeed in any 
of the cities, seeing that they would all of 
them wish to be governed by the people rather 
than be governed by a king." When the other 
Kings heard this they turned straightway to the 
opinion of Histiaeus, though before they had 
followed the opinion of Miltiades. And as they 
judged it most expedient for themselves, so they 
did forthwith. For they loosed that part of the 
bridge which was towards the Scythians, and 
they loosed it for the length of a bow shot. 



DARIUS AND THE SCYTHIANS. 



And this they did in order that, though the}7 
did nothing, they might yet seem to be doino- 
something, and that the Scythians might not 
take the bridge by force, and so cross the 
Danube. And while they were loosing the 
bridge on the side of the Scythians they af- 
firmed that they were about to do as the 
Scythians had counselled them. For Histiaeus 
came forward in the name of all, and spake, 
saying, " Ye men of Scythia, ye have come to 
us with counsel that is right welcome, and are 
zealous on our behalf to good purpose. And 
as ye have advised us well, so will we serve 
you faithfully. For we will loose this bridge, 
even as ye now see us do, and we will work 
with all our might that we may have the free- 
dom which we desire. Do ye, therefore, while 
we are loosing the bridge, go and seek for these 
oppressors, and when ye have found them, 
avenge yourselves and us also upon them in 
such manner as they deserve." When the 
Scythians heard these words they believed a 
second time that the Ionians spake the truth, 
and so departed, seeking the Persians. Yet 
did they miss them altogether, and for this 

J 9 



274 STORIES OF THE EAST. 



cause, for which indeed they were themselves 
to blame, namely, that they had destroyed the 
pastures and filled up the wells. For if they 
had not done this thing they could easily have 
found the Persians. But now the counsel that 
seemed to have been most excellently devised 
turned out ill for them. For the Scythians 
indeed went through their country seeking the 
Persians where there was food for their horses 
and wells of water, for they thought that of a 
surety the enemy would return by this way. 
But the Persians did not so, but kept to their 
own trail which they had made marching from 
the Danube ; and so at last, after many things 
suffered, they came to the river and the bridge. 
But as they came in the night-time, and the one 
end of the bridge had been loosed, they were 
for a while in great fear lest the Ionians should 
have left them. Now there was with Darius 
a certain Egyptian, whose voice was louder 
than the voice of all other men ; and Darius 
commanded this man that he should go down 
to the edge of the river, and call to Histiaeus 
of Miletus. This he did, and Histiaeus heard 
him call the first time, and straightway brought 



DARIUS AND THE SCYTHIANS. 275 

the ships and joined the bridge, so that the 
army of the Persians passed over and escaped. 
But when the Scythians came again to the 
river, having missed the Persians a second time, 
they had great wrath against the Ionians. And 
from that day they are wont to say of the 
Ionians, that if they be called freemen then 
be they the most cowardly and vile of all the 
nations upon earth, and if they be counted 
slaves then there are no slaves more mean 
and worthless. 



276 STORIES OF THE EAST. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

OF THE SCYTHIANS AND OTHER NATIONS. 

Concerning the Scythians and other nations 
that dwell in these parts there are some things 
worthy to be told. 

All this country is in winter cold beyond 
measure. For eight months, indeed, the frost 
is such that a man can scarce bear it ; and 
during this time if you pour water on the ground 
you cannot make mud ; but if you light a fire 
you can make it. The sea is frozen, and the 
Scythians march across the ice and drive 
their waggons on it to that part of Asia which 
lieth over against them. The sea which they 
cross is the Cimmerian Bosphorus, being at the 
extremity of the Black Sea eastward. So is it 
for eight months of the year ; and in the four 
that remain there is ofttimes frost. Nor is the 
winter such as is wont to be in other countries ; 
for it raineth scarcely ever, but in summer it 



OF THE SCYTHIANS AND OTHER NATIONS. 277 

raineth continually. Also there is never heard 
thunder at this time, but in summer it is very 
Grievous. The horses endure the cold, but the 
asses and the mules perish ; but elsewhere asses 
and mules endure it, but horses if they stand 
still are mortified by frost. Perchance the cold 
is the cause why the oxen have not horns. To 
this aoreeth what Homer saith in the " Wan- 
derings of Ulysses " — 

" Libya, where quickly grow the lambkin's horns." 

For in lands where there is much heat horns 
ever grow quickly. As to the mules, in Elis 
also, though it is not over cold, mules are 
never born. But the people of Elis say that 
this is by reason of a curse. 

As to the feathers, whereof the Scythians 
affirm the air in the regions beyond them to be 
full, so that no man may pass through them, or 
even see them, the truth seems to be this. In 
the upper country snow falleth continually, but 
in summer less than in winter. Now, whoso- 
ever hath seen snow close at hand when it is 
falling quickly knoweth it to be like to feathers. 
And it is easily to be believed that by reason 



278 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

of the cold the northern part of this land cannot 
be inhabited. 

Of the customs of the Scythians the greater 
part are not to be praised ; but one thing they 
order in a fashion more admirable than do any 
other men ; and this thing is of all human affairs 
the most important. If an enemy invade 
their country he shall never escape from it, nor 
shall he ever be able to come up with them 
unless they will. For they have neither cities 
nor forts, but they carry about their houses with 
them, and they are all archers, shooting from 
horseback, and they live not by tillage, but by 
cattle, and their dwellings are on wagons. 
Hence it has come to pass that no man can 
conquer them, or even so much as come near 
to them. For this manner of life the land 
wherein they dwell is suitable, and their rivers 
also are a help ; for the land is plain and grassy 
and well watered, and the rivers that flow 
through it are well-nigh equal in number to the 
canals that are in Egypt. 

They worship five Gods ; first Vesta, honour- 
ing her beyond all others, and next Zeus and 
Earth (and Earth they call the wife of Zeus), 



OF THE SCYTHIANS AND OTHER NATIONS. 279 

and in the third place Apollo, and the Heavenly 
Aphrodite, and Heracles, and Ares. These all 
the Scythians worship, and the Royal Scythians 
worship Poseidon. Images and altars and 
temples they make for Ares only. 

They have but one manner of sacrificing. 
The beast is made to stand with its forefeet 
bound together. Then he that sacrificeth, 
standing behind the beast, pulleth the end of 
the rope wherewith it is bound, causing it to 
fall ; and as it falleth, he calleth aloud the name 
of the god to whom he offereth the beast. 
Afterwards he putteth a noose round its neck, 
and in the noose a small stick, the which he 
twisteth, and so strangleth the beast. But he 
lighteth no fire, nor useth consecration, nor 
poureth out libation ; but so soon as it is strangled 
busies himself with the boiling of it. Now 
there is no wood in the land of Scythia, for 
which cause they use this method for the boiling 
of the flesh. First they flay the beast, and after 
strip off the flesh from the bones. This flesh 
they put into caldrons of the country, if they 
chance to have such ; and these caldrons are 
like to the mixing bowls of the Arabs, but are 



iSo STORIES OF THE EAST. 

larger by much ; and under they burn the 
bones of the beast. But if they have no caldron, 
they put all the flesh of the beast into the 
paunch, and mixing with it water, burn the 
bones as before. The bones burn excellently 
well, and the paunch easily holds all the flesh 
when it has been stripped off. And when the 
flesh is boiled, the sacrificer takes of the 
entrails and of the flesh and casts them on the 
earth before him ; and this is their manner of 
offering. 

But to Ares they offer sacrifice after another 
manner. In each district of the land, at the 
chief place of it, there is a temple of Ares ; and 
the temple is of this fashion. Faggots of brush- 
wood are piled together in a heap, whereof the 
breadth is three furlongs, and the length three 
furlongs, but the height not so much. On this 
there is made a platform that is foursquare, 
and steep on every side save one only ; but by 
this one a man may climb on the top. And 
on this they pile year by year one hundred and 
fifty waggon loads of brushwood, for the rains 
cause it to sink. In the midst of this platform 
is a sword of iron, made after an ancient fashion ; 



OF THE SCYTHIANS AND OTHER NATIONS. 281 

and this sword is the image of Ares. And 
year by year they offer to this sword sheep and 
horses ; and of the men whom they take captive 
in battle they choose one out of every hundred 
and sacrifice them, but after a different manner 
to the sacrificing of the beasts. They pour wine 
on the heads of the men, and slay them over a 
great vessel, and then taking the blood on to 
the platform, pour it over the sword that serveth 
for an image. This they do with the blood, 
but as to the dead bodies they cut from them 
the ri^ht shoulders down to the hand and throw 
them into the air. Afterwards they slay the 
other victims, and so depart. 

Swine they use never in sacrifice ; nay, they 
will not so much as keep this beast in their 
country. 

Concerning war they have these customs. 
The first man that a Scythian slays in battle he 
drinks of his blood ; and he takes the heads of 
all he slays and carries them to the King. If 
he carry the head, then hath he a share of all 
the booty whatsoever may be taken, but if he 
carry it not, he hath no share. He flays the 
head in this manner. He makes a cut round 



282 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

about it above the ears, and shakes the skull 
out of the scalp. The scalp he cleanses with 
the bone of an ox, and when he has softened it 
with his hand, useth it for a napkin. The 
Scythians hang these scalps upon their bridles 
and make much account of them ; for he that 
hath most napkins of this sort is reckoned to be 
the bravest of his company. Some sew the 
scalps together for cloaks, and others make 
covers of them for their quivers. Now the 
skin of a man is very white and of a beautiful 
lustre beyond all other skins. With the skulls 
they deal in this fashion, but not with all, but 
with the skulls of these only whom being alive 
they have most abhorred. The upper part, 
having been cut off above the eyebrows, they 
cover with a covering of leather, and use it for 
a drinking cup. And if a man be poor, this 
sufficeth him; but if he be rich, he addeth within 
a lining of gold. If a man have a quarrel with 
a kinsman, and overcome in a trial before the 
King, he dealeth with his skull in this fashion. 
And if he entertain strangers that are men of 
note, he will hand to them these cups, and tell 
how they were skulls of kinsmen that had a 



OF THE SCYTHIANS AND OTHER NATIONS. 283 

feud with him and were vanquished before the 
Kino-. 

Once in every year the chief man in each 
district mixeth a great bowl of wine ; and all 
the Scythians that have slain an enemy in battle 
drink of it ; but they who have not done this 
taste not of the wine, but sit apart as men that 
are disgraced. Such as have slain very many 
enemies have two cups instead of one, and drink 
from both. 

Among the Scythians are many soothsayers, 
who use divination by bundles of rods which 
they loose, putting each wand by itself, and so 
prophesying. If the King of the Scythians fall 
sick, he sendeth for three soothsayers that are 
of the best repute. These use divination after 
the manner aforesaid ; and for the most part 
they say that such and such a man hath sworn 
falsely by the King's hearth, naming this or 
that citizen. (It is the custom of the Scythians 
to swear by the King's hearth when they would 
take a very great oath.) Then certain men lay 
hold on the man who is accused of having 
sworn falsely, and the soothsayers affirm that 
he has sworn falsely by the King's hearth. But 



234 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

the man is very vehement in denying that he 
hath done any such thing. Whereupon the 
Kincr sendeth for other soothsayers, twice as 
many in number as the former. If these, when 
they have used divination, find the man guilty 
of having sworn falsely, then they cut off his 
head forthwith, and the former soothsayers 
divide his possessions among themselves ; but if 
the second company of soothsayers acquit him, 
then the King sendeth for others, and for others 
again. And if the greater part acquit him, 
then the former soothsayers must die. The 
manner of slaying them is this. They fill a 
waggon with brushwood, and yoke oxen to it ; 
and they bind the soothsayers hand and foot, 
and put gags in their mouths, and so cast them 
into the midst of the brushwood. Then they 
set fire under the wood, and cause the oxen to 
run, frightening them. Ofttimes the oxen are 
consumed with the soothsayers, but sometimes, 
if the pole chance to be burnt through, they 
are singed only, and so escape. If the King 
cause a man to be put to death, he slayeth all his 
male children also, but the female he suffereth 
to live. 



OF THE SCYTHIANS AND OTHER NATIONS. 285 

The Scythians make oaths in this manner. 
They pour wine into a great bowl of earthen- 
ware, and after mingle with the wine the blood 
of them that swear the oath, making a scratch 
on their bodies with an awl or cutting 1 them 
with a knife. Then they dip into the bowl a 
scimitar and arrows and a battle-axe and a 
javelin, and they say many prayers over it ; and 
after this they that make the covenant drink of 
the bowls, and their chief followers also. 

The tombs of the Kings are in the land of 
the Gerrhi. So soon as the King dies, they 
dig a grave, which is very great, and in shape 
foursquare. Then they embalm the dead body 
after their fashion, and covering it with wax, 
lay it in a waggon, and send it to the nation 
that is next to them. And this a^ain sendeth it 
on to the next. And every man both of the 
royal tribe (from whom it cometh at the first) 
and of the other tribes to whom it is sent, doeth 
after this fashion. He cuts off a part of an ear, 
and crops his hair close, and cuts round about 
his arm, and wounds his forehead and his nose, 
and runs an arrow through his left hand. So 
they carry the dead body through the country, 



236 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

coming at last to the Gerrhi, where are the 
tombs of the Kings. Here they lay it on a 
mattrass in the grave, fixing spears round about 
it, and putting beams over it for a roof, which 
they thatch with twigs of osier. In the space 
round about the tomb (and this is very great), 
they bury one of the King's concubines, having 
first strangled her : also they bury his cup- 
bearer, and his cook, and his groom, and his 
body-servant, and his messenger, and certain of 
his horses, and first-fruits of all his other pos- 
sessions, and also cups of gold — for cups of 
silver and bronze they use not at all. After 
this they make over the grave a very great 
mound, striving with all their might to build it 
as high as may be. 

When a year is passed they do after this 
fashion. They take the best of the King's ser- 
vants, all of them being Scythians, and chosen 
for this office by the King, for they have no 
servants bought with money, and strangle fifty 
of them, and fifty also of the best of his horses, 
and fill their bodies with chaff. Then they fix 
stakes in the ground, setting pairs of them, and 
on each pair half a wheel put archwise. On 



OF THE SCYTHIANS AND OTHER NATIONS. 2S7 

these arches they fasten the horses, and on the 
backs of the horses they set the young men ; 
and for each horse and its rider there are bit 
and bridle. Then they range the fifty riders in 
a circle round about the tomb and so leave 
them. 

When a man of the people dies his kinsfolk 
lay him in a waggon, and take him about to the 
houses of all his friends. These all entertain 
the company at a banquet, wherein they serve 
the dead man with meat even as they serve the 
others. For forty days they carry about the dead 
body and afterwards bury it. And when the 
burial is finished, then they that have carried 
about the dead man, purify themselves after 
this fashion. They set three sticks in the earth 
inclined together ; and on these they put cloth 
of wool as close together as may be, so making 
a tent. And in the tent they set a dish, and 
in the dish stones made red-hot, and they cast 
hempseed upon the stones. (Hemp groweth 
abundantly in this land of Scythia, and the 
people make garments of it that are very like to 
garments made of flax, so that a man must be 
skilful in such matters to distinguish them.) 



288 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

Then the Scythians creep under the tent ; and 
the hempseed smoketh upon the stones, so that 
no bath could smoke more. The Scythians are 
delighted beyond measure, and shout for joy. 
This smoking serves them for a bath, for they 
never wash their bodies with water. 

It is an abomination to the Scythians to use 
strange customs. This may be seen from what 
befell Anacharsis ; for this man, having travelled 
over many lands, and shown great wisdom 
whithersoever he went, came to Cyzicus, that is 
by the Hellespont, as he sailed homewards. 
Here he saw the people keeping a feast to the 
Great Mother very splendidly ; and he vowed 
to the goddess that he also would keep a feast 
to her if he came safely to his home. And 
having come, he performed his vow, but a 
certain Scythian saw him, and told the matter 
to King Saulius, who, when he saw how 
Anacharsis was behaving himself, shot him with 
an arrow, and slew him. 

So soon as King Darius, having but barely 
escaped from the Scythians, was come to 
Sardis, he sent for the two men who had done 
him good service, to wit, Histiaeus of Miletus 



OF THE SCYTHIANS AND OTHER NATIONS. 289 

and Coes of Mitylene. And when they stood 
before him, he bade them ask a boon of him, 
each of them the thing that he most wished to 
possess. Then Histiaeus asked of the King 
that he would give him Myrcinus that be- 
longeth to the Edonians, that he might build 
for himself a city ; for he was King of Miletus. 
But Coes, being but a citizen, asked that he 
might be made King of Mitylene. And Darius 
granted them each his request. 

About this time there came to Sardis two 
Paeonians, who sought to have the pre-eminence 
among their countrymen. They brought with 
them their sister, who was a very fair woman 
and of great stature. And it came to pass one 
day when the King sat on his throne before the 
city, that having arrayed their sister in the 
richest garments that they had, they sent her 
to draw water for them. So she went, bearing 
a pitcher on her head, and leading a horse on 
one arm, and spinning flax as she walked. 
And the King took note of her as she passed 
by his throne, for it was not the custom of the 
Persians, nor of the Lydians, nor of any of the 
dwellers in Asia, to do after this fashion. And 

20 



290 STORIES OF THE EAST 

he bade certain of his guards follow her, and 
see what she would do with the horse. So the 
guards followed her, and when the woman 
came to the river, first she gave w r ater to the 
horse, and afterwards filled the pitcher, and so 
came back by the way that she had gone, 
bearing the pitcher upon her head, and leading 
the horse on her arm, and all the while she 
span the flax. And King Darius marvelled 
much at the things that were told to him, and 
at what he himself had seen. Therefore he 
commanded the woman to be brought before 
him ; and when the woman came, her brothers 
came also, for they had been watching the 
matter near at hand. Then the King asked 
them, " Of what nation is this woman ? " And 
the young men answered, "We are men of 
Paeonia, and she is our sister." Whereupon 
the Kine said, " Where is the land of Paeonia ? 
and on what errand are you come to Sardis ? " 
The young man answered, " Paeonia is by the 
river of Strymon, not far from the Hellespont, 
and our beginning was from the city of Troy, 
and now we are come to yield ourselves to 
thee." And Darius asked them, saying, " Do 



OF THE SCYTHIANS AND OTHER NATIONS. 291 

all the women work as this your sister whom I 
saw ? " And the young men answered with all 
eagerness that it was so ; for indeed the whole 
thine had been done for this end. 

Now King Darius had left behind him, when 
he returned to Asia, a, great army of men, 
eighty thousand in all, with Megabazus for 
their captain. It was this Megabazus to whom 
Darius gave great honour by a certain thing 
which he said of him. For when the Kine was 
about to eat pomegranates, and had opened the 
first, his brother Artabanus said to him, "What 
is it, O King, that thou wouldst have in such 
plenty as there are seeds in this pomegranate ?" 
And Darius said, " I had sooner have as many 
men like unto Megabazus as there are seeds in 
this pomegranate than be lord of the land of 
Greece." This man himself said a thine which 
will never be forgotten by the people of the 
Hellespont. Being in Byzantium, he was told 
by the men of the city that the building of 
Chalcedon was by seventeen years earlier than 
the building of Byzantium. Which when he 
heard, he said, " Surely they that built Chalcedon 
were blind men ; for had they not been blind. 



292 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

they had not chosen the worse place for their 
building, when they might have chosen the 
better." 

When therefore Darius had heard these 
things concerning the men of Paeonia, he wrote 
letters to Megabazus, bidding him remove the 
Paeonians from their own land, and bring them 
all before him, men and women and children. 
Straightway a horseman rode with all speed to 
the Hellespont, and having crossed it, gave the 
letter to Megabazus, who, having got guides 
from the Thracians, prepared to make war 
against the Paeonians. 

Now, so soon as the Paeonians heard that 
the Persians were marching against them, they 
gathered their host together, and went down to 
the sea coast, thinking that the Persians would 
seek to enter their country by that way, and 
stood ready to meet their enemies. But when 
this came to the knowledge of the Persians, 
they took guides, and marching through the 
upper country before the Paeonians were aware, 
came down upon their cities, of which, seeing 
that they found them empty, they easily got 
possession. And when the Paeonians heard 



OF THE SCYTHIANS AND OTHER NATIONS. 293 

that their cities were taken they were scattered, 
every man going to his own home, and so gave 
themselves up to the Persians. Thus were 
these men with their wives and children taken 
by force from their native country and led away 
into Asia. 

Nevertheless, Megabazus subdued not all the 
Paeonians, for, not to speak of others, those that 
dwelt in the lake Prasias were not conquered 
by him. He sought indeed to conquer them, 
but he could not accomplish it. The manner in 
which they live in the lake is this. In the 
middle of the water there stand tall piles, and 
upon these are built platforms, to which there 
is a narrow access from the land by one bridge 
only. Now the piles that are under the plat- 
forms were planted in the beginning by the 
whole commonwealth ; but afterwards they plant 
them for themselves according to their law. A 
man driveth in three stakes (which they bring 
down from Mount Orbelus) for every wife that 
he taketh in marriage ; and they take all of 
them many wives. Their manner of living is 
this. Every man hath a hut of his own upon 
one of the platforms, and a trap-door into the 



294 STORIES OF THE EAST 

lake below. Their young children they tie by 
the foot with a string, fearing lest they should 
roll into the water. To their horses and their 
beasts of burden they give fish for food. Of 
fishes indeed the multitude is so great that a man 
may open the trap-door and let down a basket 
into the lake by a rope, and leaving it there for 
no long time, take it up again filled with fishes. 
Of fishes there are two kinds, which they call 
the praprax and the tilo. 

Megabazus also subdued the Thracians, con- 
cerning whom there are certain things worthy 
to be told. The Trausi have also this custom. 
When a child is born, its kinsfolk sit round 
about it, and lament for all the evils that it 
must endure now that it is born into the world, 
recounting all the troubles of human life. But a 
dead man they bury with much laughter and 
joy, for they say that he hath been delivered 
from all manner of unhappiness and is now in 
great joy and felicity. 

Other Thracians have this custom. Each 
man hath many wives. And when a man dies 
there is a great contest among these wives, 
their friends also taking one side or the other, 



OF THE SCYTHIANS AND OTHER NATIONS. 295 

as to who it was that was most loved of her 
husband. And she to whom this honour is 
adjudged, receiving great praise both from men 
and women, is slain upon the tomb by her 
nearest kinsman. 

Some Thracians sell their children, and buy 
their wives for great sums of money. To be 
marked on the body showeth that a man is of 
honourable station, but not to be marked that 
he is of the meaner sort. To do nothing is the 
most honourable thing, but to till the ground 
the most dishonourable ; nor is there anything 
more glorious than to live by war and plunder. 

The Macedonians also submitted themselves 
to King Darius, giving earth and water. 

In those days Aryandes, who was governor 
of Egypt under Darius, sent an army and a fleet 
against certain Greek cities which lie to the 
westward of Egypt, to wit, Cyrene and Barca. 
(This Aryandes afterwards was put to death by 
the King, as seeking to get the dominion for 
himself; for he had coined money, and this 
money was silver of such purity that there is no 
other silver like unto it.) Now Cyrene was 
built by certain men that went out from the 



296 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

country of the Lacedaemonians, one Battus being 
its founder ; and in the fourth generation from 
Battus there was strife in the royal house ; and 
certain princes going forth from Cyrene built 
the city of Barca, the Libyans who dwelt in 
those parts helping them. After this there was 
trouble again in the cities, Arcesilaiis, King of 
Cyrene, was driven out for his tyranny by the 
citizens ; and coming back by the help of the 
Samians executed vengeance upon his enemies 
with great cruelty. This Arcesilaiis afterwards 
dwelt in Barca, for he had married the daughter 
of the King; and the people of Barca, being 
stirred up by certain exiles from Cyrene, slew 
him. Now while he dwelt at Barca, Phere- 
time, his mother, was regent at Cyrene ; and 
when she knew that her son was dead, she fled 
to Egypt, to Aryandes the governor, and 
entreated him that he would help her to get 
vengeance for her son ; and she said that the 
man had been slain because he favoured the 
Persians. And Aryandes hearkened to her 
words, and sent, as hath been said, an army 
and a fleet against the cities. Cyrene indeed 
suffered no harm, but Barca fared otherwise. 



OF THF SCYTHIANS AND OTHER NATIONS. 20,7 

When the Persians were come to the city, 
they sent a herald demanding that there should 
be given up to them all that were guilty in the 
matter of the death of Arcesilatis. But the 
people would not hearken to him, for indeed 
they were all guilty. Whereupon the Persians 
laid siege to the city ; and this they did for 
nine months, digging mines under the earth, 
and making attacks upon the city with great 
violence. As for the mines, indeed, these a 
certain worker in brass discovered by help of 
a brazen shield. This he carried about through 
the city, smiting it upon the ground ; and for 
the most part it was dumb ; but where the 
Persians were digging their mines there it rang, 
Then the people of Barca dug a mine of their 
own, and slew the Persians. 

But when much time had been spent, and 
many had been slain on both sides, Amasis, 
who was captain of the host, devised this 
device, thinking to take the people of Barca by 
craft, for force availed nothing. He caused his 
men to dig by night a broad trench, whereon 
he laid light planks, and on the planks he put a 
covering of earth, making it even with the 



298 STORIES OF THE EAST. 

ground on either side. And when it was day- 
he called the men of Barca to a parley ; and 
they gladly hearkening to him, a covenant was 
made between them. " The men of Barca 
shall pay a fitting sum as tribute to the King, 
and the Persians shall not harm the men of 
Barca." This covenant they confirmed by an 
oath, which they sware standing upon the 
planks ; and the oath was this, " So long as 
this earth whereon we stand shall abide, so long 
shall our covenant endure." Then the men of 
Barca set open their gates and suffered any of 
the Persians that would to enter their city. 
But the Persians brake down the planks that 
had been laid over the trench, and so held 
themselves free, for the earth whereon they 
stood when they sware the oath did not abide. 

Then Pheretime executed vengeance on all 
that had been most guilty in the matter of her 
son. Nor did she herself come to a good end ; 
for, having returned to Egypt, she died miser- 
ably, being eaten of worms ; for indeed the 
Gods have sore displeasure against men when 
they execute vengeance cruelly. 

As for the Persians they came not back to 



OF THE SCYTHIANS AND OTHER NATIONS. 299 

Egypt unharmed, for the Libyans beset them, 
and cut off all stragglers and such as dropped 
behind in the march. 

So King Darius extended his borders on all 
sides. But how he made war upon the land 
of Greece shall be told hereafter. 



THE END. 



I'NWIN BROTHERS, THE GRESHAM PRESS, CHILWORTH AND LONDON. 



Tenth Thousand, Crown 8uo, price $s. cloth. 



STORIES FROM HOMER 



REV. ALFRED J. CHURCH, M.A., 

Professor of Latin at University College, London. 
Author of " Stories from Virgil." 



THE ILIAD. 



I. The Quarrel of the Chiefs. 
II. The Broken Covenant. 
III. The Battle in the Plain. 
IV. Hector and Andromache. 
V. The Duel of Hector and Ajax. 
VI. The Adventure of Ulysses and 

Diomed. 
VII. The Wounding of the Chiefs. 



VIII. The Battle at the Wall. 
IX. The Battle at the Ships. 
X. The Battle at the Ships {continued). 
X I . The Deeds and Death of Patroclus. 
XII. The Rousing of Achilles. 

XIII. The Battle at the River. 

XIV. The Death of Hector. 
XV. The Ransoming of Hector. 



THE ODYSSEY. 



I. The Cyclops. 
II. The Island of ^Eolus — the Laestry- 
gons — Circe. 
III. The Regions of the Dead — Scylla — 
the Oxen of the Sun — Calypso. 
IV. Telemachus and Penelope. 
V. Nestor and Menelaus. 



VI. Ulysses on his Raft. 
VII. Nausicaa and Alcinoiis. 
VIII. Ulysses and the Swineherd. 
IX. The Return of TelemaLhus. 
X. Ulysses in his Home. 
XI. The Trial of the Bow. 
XII. The Slaying of the Suitors. 



WITH TWENTV-FOUR TINTED ILLUSTRATIONS, FROM 
FLAXMAN'S DESIGNS. 



" A book which ought to become an English classic. It is full of the pure Homeric 
flavour, and we think we may predict that it will retain its place in our literature." — 
Spectator. 

"All Mr. Church's stories are told with rare grace and fidelity." — Times. 

" We can give Mr. Church no higher praise than that he has succeeded in his 
undertaking. We doubt whether the first and greatest of story-tellers has ever before 
been so appropriately rendered for children. — Academy. 

" Mr. Church has long since proved himself a ripe and good scholar, though he 
had not given evidence of the special Homeric insight which this charming volume 
displays." — Saturday Review. 



SEELEY, JACKSON, AND HALLIDAY, 
54, Fleet Street, London. 



Eighth Thousand, Crown Svo, price $s. 



STORIES FROM VIRGIL. 

BY THE 

REV. ALFRED J. CHURCH, M.A., 

Professor of Latin at University College, London. 
Author of " Stories from Homer." 



CONTENTS. 



I. The Horse of Wood. 
II. The Sack of Troy. 

III. yEneas and Anchises. 

IV. Polydorus — Delos — Crete — The 

Harpies. 
V. King Helenus — The Cyclops. 
VI. The Shipwreck. 
VII. Carthage. 
VIII. Dido. 

IX. The Love and Death of Dido. 

X. The Funeral Games of Anchises. 
XI. The Funeral Games {continued). 
XII. The Burning of the Ships. 
XIII. The Sibyl. 



XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX. 

XXI. 

XXII. 

XXIII. 

XXIV. 

XXV. 

XXVI. 



The Dwellings of the Dead. 

King Latinus. 

The Wrath of Juno. 

The Gathering of the Chiefs. 

King Evander. 

The Arms of ./Eneas. 

Nisus and Euryalus. 

The Battle at the Camp. 

The Battle at the Shore. 

The Council. 

The Battle at the City. 

The Broken Treaty. 

The Death of Turnus. 



WITH TWENTY-FOUR TINTED ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PINELLFS 

DESIGNS. 



" Superior to his ' Stories from Homer,' good as they were ; and perhaps as perfect 
a specimen of that peculiar form of translation as could be." — Tunes. 

" Many readers who are familiar with their Latin Virgil, will be astonished by- 
happy touches which had escaped them before, but appear more prominently in Mr. 
Church's easy narrative. To all others, both old and young, the book will have a yet 
higher interest and value." — Athenceuju. 

"The classics have been familiarised in various ways to English readers; but in 
none more effectively than by Mr. Church in his prose adaptations from the poets. 
These stories are well selected, and the beauty of the volume is enriched by a number 
of very elegant and vigorous pictures after Pinelli." — Guardian. 



SEELEY, JACKSON, AND HALLIDAY, 
54, Fl^et Street, London. 



Fifth Thousand, Crown 8vo, price $s. cloth. 



STORIES FROM THE GREEK 
TRAGEDIANS. 

BY THE 

REV. ALFRED J. CHURCH, M.A., 

Professor of Latin at University College, London. 
Author of " Stories from Homer." 



CONTENTS. 



The Story of the Love of Alcestis. 
The Story of the Vengeance of Medea. 
The Story of the Death of Hercules. 

The Story of the Seven Chiefs against 

Thebes. 
The Story of Antigone. 
The Story of Iphigenia in Aulis. 

The Story of Philoctetes, or The Bow of 
Hercules. 



The Story of the Death of Agamemnon. 

The Story of Electra, or The Return of 

Orestes. 
The Story of the Furies, or the Loosing 

of Orestes. 
The Story of Iphigenia among the Tau- 

rians. 
The Story of the Persians, or the Battle 

of Salamis. 
The Story of Ion. 



WITH TWENTY-FOUR TINTED ILLUSTRATIONS, FROM 
FLAXMAN AND OTHERS. 



" Mr. Church has a rare command of a pure and liquid English. Take the book 
all in all, we have never before seen so difficult a task as this performed with greater 
vigour, and a sincerer touch." — Spectator. 

" Mr. Church has proved how well the field of classic legend may be turned to 
account ; and he offers to boys at home from school not only a pleasant and enter- 
taining book for the fireside, but a storehouse of facts from history to be of real service 
to them when they come to read a Greek Play for themselves." — Standard. 

" His task in rendering dramatic compositions is greater than in his former renderings 
of poetical narratives, but his success is as complete." — British Quarterly Review. 



SEELEY, JACKSON, AND HALLIDAY, 
54, Fleet Street, London. 



Crown 8vo, price 3s. 6d. 



A TRAVELLER'S TRUE TALE. 

AFTER THE GREEK OF LUCIAN OF SAMOSATA. 

BY THE 

REV. ALFRED J. CHURCH, M.A. 

Professor of Latin at U?iiversity College, London, 
Author of " Stories from Homer." 



CONTENTS. 



Lucian Starts on a Journey. 

The Battle and the Treaty. 

Of the Moon-folk and their Manners 

and Customs. 
Lantern City. 

Lucian and his Men are Swallowed up. 
Lucian Defeats his Neighbours. 
The Battle of the Islands. 
The Sea of Milk and Cheese Island. 
The Travellers meet the Cork-foot-folk 

and come to the Island of the Blessed. 
The Island of the Blessed. 



The Inhabitants of the Island of the 
Blessed. 

Lucian talks with Homer. 

The Island is Invaded — The Flight of 
Fair Helen. 

Lucian Visits the Abode of the Wicked. 

The Island of Dreams — Lucian Visits 

Calypso. 
The Pumpkin Pirates and Other Strange 

Creatures. 
The Ocean Forest : — The Ox-headed 

People, and Other Marvels. 



WITH TWELVE TINTED ILLUSTRATIONS. 



"This work ought to be popular both with old and young.'' — Daily Telegraph. 

".There can hardly be a more amusing book of travels for young people than this. 
-Saturday Review. 



SEELEY, JACKSON, AND HALLIDAY. 
54, Fleet Street, London. 



3s 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



018 487 699 1 



